Gadgets?

How do I get a .gadget to run in Win7 X64 Home Premium? A few days ago, on the MG front page, I saw System Monitor II. I didn't read the full description; down at the very bottom of the description it mentions that it's a "gadget"; I missed it :-o. So I downloaded it, unzipped it, and I can't run it. All I get is the "what do you want to open this program with?" message. The developer's web page has no info that I found about how to get a "gadget" to work. OK - I have done little-to-no research (I had a miracle half-day at work and don't feel like working now that I'm home) and I figured asking the brilliant folks here at MG was the way to find out about gadgets and be lazy at the same time.

Thanks.

 

I believe what you are trying to run needs to be installed to and run from the windows sidebar. It's not a freestanding app.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windows7/ht/windows-7-gadget.htm

Edit: Just downloaded and unzipped it and yes, it's a windows sidebar gadget.

 

Hello dlb,
Make sure Gadgets is enabled.

Control Panel>Programs and Features. In the left pane is "Turn Windows features on or off" Click that and scroll down and make sure "Windows Gadget Platform" is checked.

 

Thanks to both tgell and solaris89 for the info. Apparently, this is something that I should know about :-o I've heard of Windows gadgets, but had no idea how they worked or that they depended on the Windows Sidebar. A few years ago, I was briefly interested in Yahoo Widgets which are similar. I actually wrote a really lame Yahoo Widget that would show the time in the middle of the screen for any US time zone: press CTRL+SHIFT+1 for Pacific Time,, press CTRL+SHIFT+2 for Mountain Time, etc. It was more an experiment 'just to see if I could it and if I'd enjoy it' kind of thing; I could, and I didn't. LOL

Anyway - thanks for the info. I'll mess around with this a bit more and post if I get it working (or not - or if I give up )

 

OK - I used tgell's info and now I have the gadget installed and working (screen shot attached below). But how do I launch it again after I close it? It doesn't seem to have set up a shortcut or anything on the desktop or in "Programs". This actually a somewhat useful gadget! Unfortunately, it relies on the 3rd party app CoreTemp to be running in the background in order to display CPU temps, but that's not a big deal. Now I'm trying to figure out how to have this run on demand.....

 

The "uncool" thing about Windows Gadgets is that they only work in/with the Windows Sidebar (which you already know). Closing the Sidebar obviously shuts down the widgets along with it. The Sidebar was DESIGNED to be left running all the time, but unfortunately is a drain on system resources. I wish they would incorporate a sidebar popup "button" in the task bar, myself, to launch/end it at will.

 

Do you really mean that man considering the machines we currently have, dlb is hardly using anything. I was interested in this at first as I run my hardware harder than most but Coretemp is inaccurate as far as actual CPU speed is, it just shows the chip's default.

Anyways, it's a good snapshot of what's going on globally. As one can imagine, I don't want to blow up either of these machines!major:-D

 

BTW, I'm sure someone 'out there' can put together a script to be able to that.

 

Why not just install CoreTemp in the usual way, put a shortcut on your desktop and/or taskbar and run it whenever you wish? It doesn't have to be installed as a Gadget.

 

I just found HWInfo64 on the front page. It's all that I need. Cuteness is not a factor for me.

 

I know it doesn't have to be installed as a gadget, and I already had it installed and linked in the quick-launch tray. Seems to me that System Monitor II should recognize that CoreTemp is installed and launch it when needed, instead of me having to launch CoreTemp manually (again, not really a big deal).

So, am I to assume that there is no way to bring up the sidebar "on demand"? It's either there and running at boot up, or it isn't? That's kind of lame.

LOL Yeah, I've had fairly light usage in the past few weeks at home. Lately I've just been playing around with different programs and apps and such just out of curiosity; stuff that I never really had time to do before 'cuz I was gaming, or working. When I get home from work, I take it easy and just fart around the interweb.... I'm "taking a break" so to speak.

Thanks for suggesting HWinfo64... looks good! I didn't look at the shot above very closely, is there a CPU and/or GPU temp reading in there someplace?

 

Yup, take a look here.

 

I think a key point here needs clarification. Windows 7 does not have a "sidebar". It has gadgets. Windows Vista has a sidebar, but the Vista-type sidebar was not included with Windows 7. If you want a sidebar in Win 7, this third-party product looks like a good option: http://nes.bplaced.net/sidebar7.html

 

First off, I suppose my opinion about the Windows Sidebar is out of date. I fiddled with it when Vista was released... and noticed the significant difference in computer performance when having it on.

Secondly, HWInfo64 looks... awesome!

And finally, I hated the Windows Sidebar so much I didn't even know they chucked it in Windows 7.

 

:-o I just figured that out LOL If I right-click on a blank area of the desktop, I have a "Gadgets" option in the context menu.....

I was never a fan of the Vista sidebar either (actually, I'm being overly polite: I FREEKIN' HATED IT!). It always seemed to be in the way....

 

I don't mean to resurrect an older thread where I end up being grossly unaware :innocent but I just found an interesting article about gadgets for monitoring system hardware (RAM, GPU, CPU, HDD, etc) in Windows 7 . . .

Here's the link: http://www.computerworld.com/s/arti...monitoring_your_PC?taxonomyId=86&pageNumber=1

:major

 

The Vista Sidebar had me so against gadgets, I was hesitant to try them on Windows 7.

However, I bucked up and gave 'em a whirl... not bad! Also, thanks for the link, dlb.