Hi Glenn,



Acording to Microsoft is is advisable to disable gadgets and no attempt will be made

to make them "safe".

They even have a "FixIt" utility to permanently disable them.



Some background:

Vulnerabilities in Gadgets Could Allow Remote Code Execution

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/security/advisory/2719662



Safety tips for using Windows gadgets

http://www.microsoft.com/security/pc-security/gadgets.aspx



Interesting read:

Are Windows Gadgets Safe?

http://www.davidleonard.net/2012/07/21/are-windows-gadget-safe/

As you can see , he's pretty cynical about this announcement and so am I.



Let's face it , gadgets have existed for years ,notably in Vista and Win7,

although many existed for XP as well.

All of a sudden with the appearance of Win8 they pose a problem?

Win8 doesn't have gadgets nor Aero ,which now all of a sudden is declared

"dated and cheesy" ,after extolling the virtues of it previously.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57437562-92/microsoft-opines-vista-was-cheesy-drops-aero/



Let's not forget that most of the security updates are POC only

(Proof Of Concept) , meaning that the vulnerabilities were never exploited

but only existed in a security company's or Microsoft's lab.



In my view they lost all credibility.

It's all about new sales and pushing consumers into a direction that might achieve this goal.



I would say ,just go ahead and use trusted gadgets from M$ and other trusted parties

and don't install or run gadgets from dubious origin.

(BTW, you can't get new gadgets from M$ anymore ,they took that page down.)

If you're really worried ,run them "sandboxed".



Peter E.



--------------------------------------------------

From: "Glenn Schrieber" 

Sent: Saturday, August 25, 2012 4:06 PM

To: <[log in to unmask]>

Subject: [PCSOFT] windows gadgets



Some time back there was some info saying windows gadget s as in Vista and Windows 7 were not safe to use, there was expected info to come from the black hat conference regarding updates.  Well I disabled my gadgets in the meantime but I've yet to hear if it is safe now to enable them.  I do miss my calendar and temp gauges and stuff.  Wha t is the forums opinion of using these?   Thanks! 



Kathy 



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