Gadgets in the Windows Vista Sidebar are not displayed correctly

Copyright © 2008 Ramesh Srinivasan
Windows Vista

Question

When I open Windows Sidebar, the clock gadget is displayed as a black square. All other gadgets show up as white rectangles with one of those information (i) icons and a plus sign. The settings button next to the gadget does not work, but the x to close does. Here is a screenshot:

Answer

This behavior is observed if the XML registration is missing in the system. To fix the problem, use the following steps:

Close Windows Sidebar. To do so, right-click on the Sidebar icon in the Notification area and click Exit
Open an elevated Command Prompt window. To do so, click Start, click All Programs, click Accessories, right-click Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.
In the Command Prompt window, type the following and press ENTER:

regsvr32 msxml3.dll

Similarly, run these commands:

regsvr32 scrrun.dll

regsvr32 jscript.dll

If the registration was successful, you'll see the message DllRegisterServer in <filename> succeeded for each command executed. Open Windows Sidebar (sidebar.exe) and check if the problem is resolved.

Last updated on Aug 11, 2007

Related Articles

How to restore the default Windows Sidebar gadgets?

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57 Responses to "Gadgets in the Windows Vista Sidebar are not displayed correctly"

Mladen

said this on 27 May 2007 5:45:36 AM PDT

Tryed, but still not working.

(Reply to this comment)

alberto

said this on 07 Jun 2007 5:30:59 PM PDT

tryed but not work

(Reply to this comment)

cdx

said this on 09 Jun 2007 9:36:46 AM PDT

if you have this issue is due a registry cleaner program you used. Stop using registry cleaners! Registry cleaners create more damages than what they should fix!

(Reply to this comment)

Chris

said this on 29 Jun 2007 6:25:40 PM PDT

didn't work for me and i don't use a registry cleaner

(Reply to this comment)

Govert Jansen

said this on 07 Jul 2007 6:45:14 PM PDT

It did not work!Even when i restored from a backup! Same result!

(Reply to this comment)

Carl

said this on 21 Jul 2007 9:26:23 AM PDT

It is still broken. What next? Thx.

(Reply to this comment)

Sherry

said this on 15 Aug 2007 11:11:43 PM PDT

Thanks for the quick fix! It worked for me and everything is back to normal. I am very pleased. :)

(Reply to this comment)

john

said this on 16 Aug 2007 4:18:30 PM PDT

WORKED GREAT. THANKS!

(Reply to this comment)

Amit Rathiesh

said this on 18 Aug 2007 1:09:36 AM PDT

Works great buddy... thanks for the help..

(Reply to this comment)

Chet W.

said this on 25 Aug 2007 9:43:44 PM PDT

Thank you! It did not work at first, but I read another person's remark that indicated one must reboot to be effective. Correct! Works fine now.

(Reply to this comment)

sehzad

said this on 03 Sep 2007 1:09:14 AM PDT

thanx a lot m8 i have resolved the problem

(Reply to this comment)

an unknown user

said this on 04 Sep 2007 9:14:32 PM PDT

Awesome. Worked after a reboot. Thank you! Also fixed some blank web page errors on hotmail and flash.

(Reply to this comment)

Larry

said this on 09 Sep 2007 7:52:26 AM PDT

I have the same problem described here with the Sidebar. I tried the suggested fix including a reboot but no help. Any other ideas?

(Reply to this comment)

Will

said this on 10 Sep 2007 4:01:45 PM PDT

Worked great thanks!

(Reply to this comment)

rok

said this on 11 Sep 2007 5:32:46 AM PDT

I have tried all registering .dlls and rebooting after it, but my sidebar is still not working.

(Reply to this comment)

an unknown user

said this on 19 Sep 2007 1:22:22 PM PDT

The problem is with security zone settings in IE. If all above was unsuccefull ,try to reset IE settings http://blogs.msdn.com/ie/archive/2006/06/12/628499.aspx

(Reply to this comment)

Zack

said this on 05 Oct 2007 4:25:09 AM PDT

I had the same problem after using a registry cleaner, after following the instructions above, the problem is solved without even are reboot. thanks Mr Ramesh

(Reply to this comment)

Ayrokid

said this on 11 Oct 2007 4:03:27 AM PDT

wrks gr8.....everythin is bck to normal....it also solved prb in IE (not loadin up page properly :S )...thnkx a lot

(Reply to this comment)

LoOpz

said this on 13 Oct 2007 12:47:28 PM PDT

It worked for me. thanks.

(Reply to this comment)

John

said this on 02 Dec 2007 1:12:32 AM PDT

It worked .. Thanks alot

(Reply to this comment)

Fred

said this on 10 Dec 2007 6:12:07 PM PDT

Thank you very much! It worked for me!

(Reply to this comment)

Tim

said this on 19 Dec 2007 4:27:32 PM PDT

I tried this but the last one didn't work. I get a pop up message that says "The module 'jscript.dll' may not be compatible with the version of Windows that you're running. Check if the module is compatible with an x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version of regsvr32.exe."

(Reply to this comment)

den-o

said this on 27 Dec 2007 6:02:20 PM PDT

Doesn't work even after a reboot, when I typed the things in it said it worked but windows Sidebar is still as it is.

(Reply to this comment)

Duncan

said this on 31 Dec 2007 12:56:32 PM PDT

Thank you Ramesh, that has fixed my problem with McAfee Internet Security Suite which would only display a blank window with no text and no controls making the product unusable.

(Reply to this comment)

Jason

said this on 19 Jan 2008 5:28:38 PM PDT

No fix, after reregistering the first file I get Error Code 0x80004005. Any Ideas?

(Reply to this comment)

zappman

said this on 29 Jan 2008 10:49:42 PM PDT

Thanks for the quick fix! It worked for me and everything is back to normal. I am very pleased. :)

(Reply to this comment)

olala

said this on 07 Feb 2008 7:23:57 AM PDT

Tnx! after 4 weeks of serching! iv edited my registry and stuff... but this did the trick! cheers

(Reply to this comment)

Gaurav

said this on 31 Mar 2008 1:08:44 PM PDT

Thank you Ramesh !! it really worked . Also my media player wasn't working before , but its back to normal. :-)

(Reply to this comment)

billd

said this on 01 Apr 2008 3:59:25 AM PDT

this problem is caused by registry cleaners. DON'T USE ANY REGISTRY CLEANER, because a registry cleaner is useless and screws up your system

(Reply to this comment)

rizal

said this on 21 Apr 2008 6:13:07 PM PDT

thank you! it's work for me. very usefull tips

(Reply to this comment)

mickey

said this on 07 May 2008 11:19:00 AM PDT

THNX! worked for me! had a problem with sidebar, windows media player en internet explorer on vista. pictures or graphics weren't shown. even youtube didn't work with internet explorer. this fixed it. thanx a lot.

(Reply to this comment)

A VERY HAPPY CAMPER

said this on 08 May 2008 1:10:41 AM PDT

You've saved me a ton of frustration. I also had major problems with Java and downloads (example: Flash player wouldn't download).. after applying those commands, & rebooting system.. everything appears to be running great now! THANKS AGAIN...

(Reply to this comment)

carlton

said this on 25 May 2008 10:50:04 PM PDT

bingo !!!! it worked perfectly. thanks for the tip. i had this problem when installing KIS 7 after uninstalling KAV 6

(Reply to this comment)

Chip

said this on 17 Jun 2008 4:26:42 PM PDT

wow. I had about 50 gadjets in the sidebar. I don't know how they got there. but I couldn't get them out by rebooting the computer or using system restore. I happened upon this site and tried the above advice. I typed in all 3 commands and I was able............to take the gadgets out one by one till I had the only three I wanted in there. thanks for your suggestion!!!!!

(Reply to this comment)

seif

said this on 19 Jun 2008 3:35:15 AM PDT

it really worked......thanks :)

(Reply to this comment)

Garley

said this on 23 Jun 2008 11:38:58 AM PDT

Worked Great - this has been bugging me for weeks - must have been due to some Windows Update nonsense as this machine never gets any new software and is never 'tinkered' with. Many many thanks!

(Reply to this comment)

Jim

said this on 10 Jul 2008 10:49:57 AM PDT

Thanks a lot!!! I have be fighting an issue with IE7 and displaying asp and running javascript pages. I had no luck in finding a solution. Also my sidebar controls stop working but I was focusing on the IE problem. Once I research my sidebar issue and found this post, the solution fixed both my problems. Thanks Again!!

(Reply to this comment)

ahovah

said this on 12 Jul 2008 8:45:12 AM PDT

SPOT ON HOMIE, SPOT ON!!!

(Reply to this comment)

Garret

said this on 22 Jul 2008 8:41:01 AM PDT

Thanks didn't work at first but removed a gadget and then restarted sidebar again. I won't reinstall the culprit gadget.

(Reply to this comment)

said this on 05 Aug 2008 12:42:06 PM PDT

help, tried to type in dll as instructed, but command prompt says not recognised internal or external info

(Reply to this comment)

mexican

said this on 10 Aug 2008 8:54:41 PM PDT

exelente tip amigo. Muchas gracias

(Reply to this comment)

rich

said this on 23 Aug 2008 8:00:35 AM PDT

Worked 1st time after reboot, and shut down/restart gadgets. thanks.

(Reply to this comment)

Martin

said this on 31 Aug 2008 10:30:16 AM PDT

I am getting error - The module "msxml3.dll" was loaded but the call to DIIRegisterServer failed with error code 0x800070005 Any ideas please?

(Reply to this comment)

umesh

said this on 10 Sep 2008 6:01:02 PM PDT

my side bar is that it is managed by the adminnistrator and it isnot comming on the desk top

(Reply to this comment)

lubo

said this on 06 Oct 2008 8:57:58 AM PDT

mille grazie,funziona. thanks.

(Reply to this comment)

fiwen

said this on 19 Oct 2008 12:25:14 AM PDT

Thanks so much, worked for me even without a reboot.

(Reply to this comment)

said this on 05 Nov 2008 12:59:01 PM PDT

I used all three and it finally worked with the last one thanks....

(Reply to this comment)

Dave

said this on 12 Nov 2008 3:44:53 AM PDT

Great thanks a lot worked first time

(Reply to this comment)

Sarin

said this on 09 Dec 2008 6:20:40 PM PDT

Thank you Ramesh. It worked even without a reboot and fixed all other problems that we were having.

(Reply to this comment)

richard

said this on 01 Jan 2009 3:55:38 PM PDT

Finally, I had same problem with also a problem running activex scripts in IE7. This solved both at the same time! Thanks.

(Reply to this comment)

Ming

said this on 02 Mar 2009 12:14:59 PM PDT

Fixed the Gadget problem. Im running win7... Thanks.

(Reply to this comment)

said this on 09 Mar 2009 7:09:04 AM PDT

Man, this saved me the headache of repairing my OS! THANK YOU!

(Reply to this comment)

JASON

said this on 13 Mar 2009 9:29:47 PM PDT

it worked perfectly on vista 64 bit!!!! thankls!!!!

(Reply to this comment)

Cheri

said this on 17 Mar 2009 8:39:22 PM PDT

Thank you sooooo much for this post!!! It took me quite a while to find it and I was just about to give up trying to fix my Sidebar problem (mine was "Windows Sidebar Had Stopped Working" altogether, not just not showing up properly) but am so glad I looked a little longer!

(Reply to this comment)

snoozer

said this on 29 Mar 2009 8:41:57 AM PDT

And a BIG thanks from me too. My probelm came about while doing a uninstall/reinstall of Mcafee. Suddenly all my gadgets would not play correctly, couldnt reinstall Mcafee due to Javascript error. Windows Media Player wouldnt startup .. Youtube clips wouldn't run .. the list was endless. Basically anything that required javascript. Was really sweating that I would have to reinstall Vista and something i really did not want to attempt. Your fix worked a treat and my computer is all sweet again. So many thanks for your post - I'm sure it will help others for years to come who find themselves in the same position.

(Reply to this comment)

baba

said this on 02 Apr 2009 5:06:18 AM PDT

It worked for me too. Thank you very much!

(Reply to this comment)

curt

said this on 25 May 2009 7:18:47 PM PDT

thanx work like a charm ur awesome

(Reply to this comment)

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