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 Do you want to signoff PCSOFT or just change to digest mode - visit our web site: http://freepctech.com/pcbuild.shtml PCSOFT's List Owners: Bob Wright<[log in to unmask]> Mark Rode<[log in to unmask]>