Desktop Gadgets

I had enabled Show on Desktop for Control Panel, and I put shortcuts on my Desktop to Backup and Restore and cmd.

Shortly afterwards, I installed CryptoPrevent. Upon launching for the first time, it said that Windows sidebar and desktop gadgets are security vulnerabilities and recommended I disable them. I've never used the Sidebar, and I didn't think that anything on my Desktop was a "Gadget" (maybe I was wrong about that). At any rate, I declined to disable anything, and CryptoPrevent never mentioned it again.

Shortly after that, I ran a scan with Avira. (It didn't find any malware.)

But when I returned to my computer after the scan ran, Control Panel, Backup and Restore and cmd had all disappeared from my Desktop. It seems likely to me that they were removed by either CryptoPrevent or Avira.

Anyway, can anybody tell me if they ARE Desktop Gadgets, and even if they're not, whether or not I should leave them off my Desktop?

 

None of the items you mentioned are Desktop gadgets.
If you find it convenient having shortcuts to cmd, Backup and Restore etc on your desktop then go for it. They pose no security risk.

 

Thanks

 

Here's a picture showing the standard gadgets from Windows 7.

 

Thanks. I had seen that picture, but I thought they were just examples of gadgets, I didn't realize they were the standard set.