My Windows Vista Sidebar is not working and i cant fix!!

The sidebar that comes with windows vista home premium has broken on my
computer. I have tried restarting it but that didn't help. Now I don't know
what to do. please help because I really want to fix it. I am on a Dell
Invision 1501 laptop running Windows Vista Home Premium. Here is a screenshot
of what is wrong.
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...99/sidebar.jpg

I have Vista Home Premium on an Acer Aspire T180 series desktop
computer. I had problems with the sidebar when I tried to install MSN
dial-up software. The sidebar would not show. I uninstalled the MSN
software and normal operation returned to the sidebar. Maybe you have a
program installed that is not compatible with Vista.

I also had problems with the sidebar when I adjusted the Theme Settings
to Windows Classic, the sidebar background was not clear.

Another thought, did you close the gadgets individually, then add them
back to the sidebar?


--
terryskibby

yes. i have a program which always comes up saying the driver is incompatible
so i'll uninstall that and see if it helps.

Vista seems to be very sensitive. I installed some older games and had
to set them in compatibility mode. I've had some other problems with
Vista (Home Premium), maybe the games are doing it.


--
terryskibby

one game i have and wont unistall is age of mythology. I could uninstall the
titans expantion but age of mythology wont uninstall. would it wreck my
computer if i got rid of it in program files?

If the game is causing problems it needs to be uninstalled. Deleting the
files in program files won't help. There are other files from the
program elsewhere in the system and information in the registry.

I think it's possible to use system restore, but that may affect other
programs you have installed. According to the information in Windows the
process of system restore is reversible. I guess you would pick a date
just prior to the installation of the program that's causing the
problem. Probably best to study all the information in Windows support
and make sure you system is backed up before you tried System Restore.

It's also possible to set a program to run in compatibility mode by
right clicking the program application file in Program Files and then
click on properties. Then click on the compatiblity tab and then make
the settings. I probably would try this first.


--
terryskibby

i don't know whether its that program that is causing all the problems, but
the uninstall.exe wont run at all and i don't know why.

I also have Windows XP Home Edition on another computer. Sometimes I
have problems installing a program and need to restart the computer
before the installer will work. My system is overloaded and I could use
more memory. The system resources are low.

I understand that Vista requires more memory to run it, how is your
system in regards to memory and system resources?


--
terryskibby

i have 1 gig of RAM and 65.7 gig out of 107 gig hard drive. is that what you
mean by system resources?

I mean the memory resources that's available for you to use. If a lot of
programs were running at the same time your system resources would be
lower, as an example. Sometimes when you run games you use up system
resources, so you need to reboot to refresh the system. That happens to
me when I run Flight Simulator 2004.

1 GIG of Ram is good and you have a lot of space on you hard drive.

The video card (display adapter) uses memory too, I believe the minimum
for Vista is 128 MB. My card is 256 MB. If your computer is set up for
Vista you are probably OK.

On an earlier post you mentioned a program that showed that a driver is
incompatible. If you go the Device Manager in Control Panel/System, you
can see if there are any problems with drivers in your system. If you
click on the + by Display Adapters, you can see the name of your
display adapter (video card). If there is a problem, there probably will
be a yellow triangle or other warning sign beside it. You can also do
this to the other items in the list. If your display adapter is having
problems, it might account for the problem with the side bar. When
you're in device manager, best not to click OK, better to click cancel
when you close a window.


--
terryskibby

Here's a good link to a Microsoft support page on "How to troubleshoot
program compatibility issues in Windows Vista":

'How to troubleshoot program compatibility issues in Windows Vista'
(http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927386)


--
terryskibby

I checked and none of them have a warning symbol next to them. I uninstalled
the program that was having problems as well. I've rebooted my computer and
age of mythology still wont uninstall.

In regards to the program that won't uninstall, would it help to set the
uninstaller (uninstall application file) in compatibility mode? The
uninstall file would be in the age of mythology folder in Program Files.

I've never tried this, just an educated guess.

In the support page from Microsoft in one of the additional links, it
mentions something about setting the installer for an older program in
compatibility mode so the program will install correctly.

Maybe this also applies to the uninstaller. What do you think?

Another thought: sometimes the program disk (CD) needs to be in the
drive before the uninstall will work.


--
terryskibby

i already tried running it in compatibility mode and that didn't work. I'll
try putting the disk in and see if that helps.

i put the disk in and it uninstalled instantly. But the sidebar is still not
working.