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]>