The windows sidebar has been removed from Windows 7. However, Gadgets are still supported. Our earlier blog article ‘Make a Vista sidebar gadget’ explained how to make a gadget for Vista, this followup article explains how to convert these previously described gadgets for use on Windows 7.

The path quoted in the previous article does not exist in Windows 7. Simply create your gadget as described in any folder then package the gadget as described below.

The two sample gadgets clock and calc need to be repackaged as a gadget installation package for use on Windows 7.

In the case of calc.zip it contains the following files in a sub folder named Calc.gadget

Calc.gadget\CalcGadget.html
Calc.gadget\CalcGadget.swf
Calc.gadget\CalcGadget.swi
Calc.gadget\gadget.png
Calc.gadget\gadget.xml

Simply zip the files…

CalcGadget.html
CalcGadget.swf
gadget.png
gadget.xml

…into a new zip file (note that they are no longer in a sub folder) then rename the zip file “Calc.gadget”. The important thing is that the filename ends with “.gadget”

The icon should change to a gadget icon if you are using Vista or Windows7.

Now double click on the gadget icon. The installation prompt shown below will appear.

Pressing install will install the gadget onto the desktop and also into the desktop gadgets gallery. If you do not already have the flash player installed, you may be prompted to install that too.

When installation is complete, the gadget will appear on the desktop and also within the Gadget Gallery.

The gadget gallery is easily located by typing “gadget” into the Windows7 search area.

Enjoy!

Tags: gadget, Max2, Max3, windows7

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 at 2:01 pm and is filed under Max2, Max3, miniMax2, miniMax3, tips, tutorials, windows. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.