{"id":148434,"date":"2025-09-23T00:10:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T04:10:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/?p=148434"},"modified":"2025-09-23T00:10:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T04:10:15","slug":"how-to-get-desktop-gadgets-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/how-to-get-desktop-gadgets-back\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Get Desktop Gadgets Back"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"daves-4195785033\" class=\"daves-single-post-before-content\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div><p>Most of you will be familiar with the desktop gadgets from the <a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/best-ever-windows-operating-system\/\">Windows 7<\/a> era, which Microsoft later abandoned due to security concerns. I first mentioned &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/bring-back-the-gadgets-from-the-vista-win7-era\/\">8 Gadget Pack<\/a>&#8221; a few years ago. Now, the developer of this freeware has dropped the &#8220;8&#8221; from the name and updated almost all the self-contained desktop gadgets.<\/p>\n<h2>Gadget Pack<\/h2>\n<p>The difference between Windows&#8217; original desktop gadgets and Gadget Pack&#8217;s gadgets, in terms of security, is that the original Windows gadgets were available via multiple 3rd-party sources and so open for cybercriminals to abuse the system, whereas the latter are completely self-contained within the pack. So, as long as you stick with Gadget Pack&#8217;s built-in gadgets and don&#8217;t wander off to install 3rd-party gadgets, you are safe.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/gadgetpack.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gadget Pack<\/a> is completely free and contains a total of 65 useful gadgets. Gadget Pack adds an option to the desktop&#8217;s right-click menu during installation, and clicking that option will provide access to all gadgets:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gadget-Pack-Gadgets.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-148436\" title=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gadget-Pack-Gadgets-640x367.png\" alt=\"gadget-pack-gadgets\" width=\"640\" height=\"367\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gadget-Pack-Gadgets-640x367.png 640w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gadget-Pack-Gadgets-350x201.png 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gadget-Pack-Gadgets-150x86.png 150w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gadget-Pack-Gadgets-768x440.png 768w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Gadget-Pack-Gadgets.png 796w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Click on a gadget and then click &#8220;Show details&#8221; for more information. Double-click a gadget to add it to the desktop.<\/p><div id=\"daves-783177575\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<p>My favorite gadgets are the CPU\/RAM meter, calendar, and an analog clock that only needs a glance to see what time it is:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Desktp-Gadgets.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-148438\" src=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Desktp-Gadgets.jpg\" alt=\"desktop-gadgets\" width=\"446\" height=\"162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Desktp-Gadgets.jpg 446w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Desktp-Gadgets-350x127.jpg 350w, https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Desktp-Gadgets-150x54.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 446px) 100vw, 446px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I display them vertically down the right-hand side of the desktop, but they can be positioned anywhere via simple drag and drop, including horizontally across the top or bottom.<\/p>\n<p>Many of the gadgets include an options menu for further customization, and gadgets can easily be closed\/removed and replaced with a different gadget. Gadget Pack works perfectly in both Windows 10 and Windows 11.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>For more information, plus a direct download link, visit: <a href=\"https:\/\/gadgetpack.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Gadget Pack<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&#8212;<\/p><div id=\"daves-2340516945\" class=\"daves-single-post-in-content-2\" style=\"margin-bottom: 25px;\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"2700504761\" \ndata-ad-format=\"auto\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"daves-1917192600\" class=\"daves-after-content\"><script async src=\"\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-7205184075006101\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display:block;\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-7205184075006101\" \ndata-ad-slot=\"3225321574\" \ndata-ad-format=\"autorelaxed\" data-full-width-responsive=\"false\"><\/ins>\n<script> \n(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); \n<\/script>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Most of you will be familiar with the desktop gadgets from the Windows 7 era, which Microsoft later abandoned due to security concerns. I first mentioned &#8220;8 Gadget Pack&#8221; a few years ago. Now, the developer of this freeware has dropped the &#8220;8&#8221; from the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":148443,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[15,4293,10797],"tags":[506],"class_list":["post-148434","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-freeware","category-win10","category-win11","tag-gadgets"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148434","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148434"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148434\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148434"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148434"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/davescomputertips.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148434"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}