If you belong to the category of users who chose to skip the previous Microsoft OS and switched directly from Windows 7 to Windows 10, then in the new OS, to your unpleasant surprise, you may not find some of the features that you have gotten used to. One of these is Windows desktop gadgets - special mini-applications placed on the desktop and performing their, usually small, task.
In the G8, Microsoft unexpectedly decided to abandon gadgets and completely cut them out of the system, motivating its decision with supposed concern for user safety. According to the corporation's plan, gadgets were to be replaced by so-called living tiles, but not all users considered such a replacement comparable. However, there are no gadgets in Windows 10 initially either.
In this short instructional article, we will be happy to tell you how to easily and quickly return your usual gadgets to Windows 10. We will do this using the 8GadgetPack program. Why did we choose her? It is absolutely free, compact (the distribution weighs only 20 MB), has a Russian interface and is visually organized in exactly the same way as gadgets in Windows 7.
In addition, the developer constantly keeps 8GadgetPack up to date. So, despite the name, the program has already been adapted for Windows 10. During the existence of the application since 2012, 14 major updates have already been released for it. Thus, the current version of 8GadgetPack at the time of writing this text is 15.0.
How to return gadgets to Windows 10?
Returning gadgets to Windows 10 couldn't be easier. First you need to download them:
Download gadgets for Windows 10: 8GadgetPack official website
Immediately after clicking, the download of a file of about 20 MB in size will begin. Find the folder where it downloaded and double-click on it:
In the window that appears, click the Install button:
Then click “yes” in the warning that appears from the operating system:
If you have not unchecked the “Show gadgets when setup exits” item, then the gadgets will be launched immediately after clicking “finish”. However, after installation, only a few mini-applications are immediately activated. For example, a clock gadget and a weather gadget.
To find others, open the desktop context menu. There, after installing 8GadgetPack, the well-known “Gadgets” item appeared.
It opens an interface where all the mini-applications available to the user are located on four pages:
Most of the usual gadgets, including currency, news headlines and calendar are at the end of the third or fourth page.
Gadgets are launched by double-clicking or simply dragging them to the desktop. Mini-applications are disabled using the “close gadget” command in their context menu.
If the available gadgets do not seem enough to you, then keep in mind that after installing 8GadgetPack, the system will again begin to “understand” files with the extension “.gadget”
Gadgets and Sidebar for Windows 10
How is 8GadgetPack different from the standard set of Windows 7 gadgets? There are perhaps two key differences.
Firstly, as you may have noticed in the screenshots above, there are noticeably more gadgets here. If in Windows 7 there were initially only eight of them, then 8GadgetPack offers more than 50 gadgets out of the box.
For some tasks, this set contains several gadgets at once. For example, to display the weather, you can choose one of six mini-applications that you find most pleasant and functional.
There are also many gadgets in the set that Windows 7 did not offer analogues out of the box. These are launchers for quickly launching the necessary files and applications, gadgets that display the number of unread letters in the mailbox, modules for monitoring the network and battery charge.
Gadgets are available for conveniently removing flash drives, working with the recycle bin, converting values, quickly adjusting the volume and monitoring processes:
If you were previously skeptical about the idea of gadgets, then pay special attention to the Clipboarder module, which is responsible for working with the clipboard. Not long ago, we even included this gadget in the list of programs that take the convenience of Windows to a new level.
To the right of Clipboarder are the settings of another convenient gadget – DriveInfo, which displays interactive icons of logical disk partitions on the desktop
The second important difference is one special gadget called 7 Sidebar, which turns on automatically after installation. This gadget adds a sidebar to Windows 10. The sidebar existed only in Windows Vista and Microsoft abandoned it by the “seven”. However, to some this possibility may seem reasonable.
Good afternoon friends. We all want our computer desktop to look more beautiful. Users often use additional gadgets for this. This could be various clocks, temperature indicators, electronic voices, etc.
All these gadgets can be called additional visual effects. I already wrote that the extra ones slow down the system. But, now most users have fairly powerful computers with a decent processor, so most likely these visual effects will not affect the performance of your system.
So, I want to introduce you to an additional panel for the RocketDock software. This panel is much more beautiful than the regular Windows panel. In my opinion, it resembles a panel. Many users find this panel more convenient.
It contains animation. When you select a specific program, it enlarges and moves. Nearby labels also enlarge and move slightly. It looks quite impressive. Many people use the RocketDock panel for antlers, because it's nice to show off such a panel to your friends!
This quick launch toolbar is free. We need to go to the official website and download RocketDock https://rocketdock.com/download. The program takes up only 6.20 MB. Which is quite small. Works from Windows 2000 to Windows 10. Please note that only 10 MB of RAM is required. The processor for it is suitable from 500 MHz. In other words, any modern PC. So, let's install the program. During installation, select Russian language.
We launch the program from a shortcut on the desktop. We now have the panel itself.
Let's look through it. If you don’t like any of the shortcuts offered by the program, select it, right-click on it and click “Delete icon”.
For example, an icon with a black T-shirt takes us to a site with a non-existent page. Let's delete it. We insert into it those programs that you often use, and delete the rest. For example, my panel currently looks like this.
As you can see, I have updated most of the programs.
RocketDock panel settings
First of all, please note that the panel is located at the very top of the screen by default. This creates additional inconvenience. For example, if you have multiple tabs open in your browser, the panel overlaps them. These tabs become difficult to reach.
Therefore, I moved the panel down.
To do this, click on the TV panel with the right mouse button and select: Position on the screen - below. Now our panel is at the bottom. Looks much better. But, in my Windows 10, the regular panel overlaps ours. It doesn't look good.
What to do in this case? You need to raise it a little. Or make the regular Windows panel colorless. I'll lift it up a little. To do this, right-click on the empty RocketDock field and select “Panel Settings” from the context menu.
If you forgot to set the Russian language when installing the program, you can do this in the top “General” tab. Select Language and look for “Russian” in the list provided. Next, if you want the panel to start along with the system (this may slow down the system startup), check the “Launch at startup” checkbox and OK.
If you need the settings to be saved in the Settings.ini file (the registry will be less overloaded), check the appropriate box. You can disable animation. Do you intend to remove any more shortcuts from the panel or add new ones? Set "Pin icons".
If you have a large monitor like I do, it will look better when we increase the icon size. To do this, go to “Icons” and use the slider to select the desired size. For example, I slightly enlarged the shortcuts in the panel.
Browse through all the other settings and choose the ones you like best. Also, I advise you to first set “Launch with the system” and see how quickly the system starts. If it is noticeably slower, it is better to uncheck this box and run the program yourself. To make it easier to understand the settings, I suggest watching a video where everything will be explained to you in detail about the program’s capabilities.
RocketDock setup video
I hope you find this program useful. Good luck!
As you know, Windows XP had a convenient Quick Access Toolbar or Quick Launch. It was removed from newer versions of Windows for some unknown reason, and some users may feel nostalgic for this tool.
For those who miss the Quick Access Toolbar, I will show you how to get it back in Windows 10. For Win7, this instruction is also suitable. So let's get started!
Right-click on the Taskbar, select Panels and then Create Toolbar...
But before that, copy the address to the clipboard, you will need it later:
You can, of course, manually follow the route:
\Users\[your username]\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Quick Launch,
but it's long and unsporting. In addition, the display of hidden folders and files must be enabled.
Now you have to select a folder for Quick Launch. This is why we copied the address in the first step, so that we can now paste it into the field Folder below and press the button Folder selection.
When we clicked on Select Folder, the window will close and the Quick Access Toolbar will appear at the bottom right.
To make the Quick Access Toolbar more compact, you can remove headings and captions. Right-click on the Quick Launch panel and uncheck the items in the menu Show signatures And Show title.
The panel now has a familiar look. Now you can stretch it by holding the two vertical sticks to the left of the panel with your mouse. If they are not there, then check that the taskbar is not pinned (Right click on the taskbar -> Properties -> Pin taskbar). To drag Quick Launch closer to the Start button, hold down the mouse and drag it all the way to the left (see figure)
When switching to a new operating system, users have to get used to the changed interface. Sometimes it’s not without difficulties: for example, after the release of “tens”, many did not figure out where the control panel is in Windows 10. It’s not in its usual place in the Start menu, but you need to configure the system.
Opening methods
In order to find the Control Panel in Windows 10, you can use one of the three methods presented below.
Using quick search
In the new Windows 10, you no longer need to remember the locations of applications and services; you just need to use the integrated search. For example, to call the “Control Panel” you need to:
- Launch the built-in search by clicking on the magnifying glass icon next to the Start button.
- In the search bar that appears, enter “Control Panel” and it will appear in the results.
Using the Start Menu
You can go another way:
- Click on the “Start” button and open the “All applications” list.
- Find and expand the “Service” section.
- Click on the “Control Panel” link.
Advice! There is another, faster way, which involves using the “Start” button - right-click on it and select “Control Panel” from the menu that appears.
Using the Run menu
Also, the “Control Panel” is opened using the universal “Run” menu:
- Press the Win + R key combination.
- In the window that appears, enter “control” and click “OK.”
Pin an icon to the desktop or taskbar
If you use the Control Panel very often, then display its icon on the desktop or pin it to the taskbar. These operations are performed in different ways, but the effect is the same - you will get quick access to system settings.
Desktop
Displaying an icon on the desktop:
- Right-click on an empty space on your desktop and open the “Personalization” section.
- Go to the Themes tab and open Icon Options.
- Check the box next to “Control Panel” and click “Ok”.
The icon for launching the management console will be pinned on the desktop along with the trash can and other necessary icons. You won’t be able to remove it; if you want to remove it, you need to go to the icon settings again and just uncheck it.
Task bar
Pinning an icon to the taskbar:
- Expand the Start menu.
- Find “Control Panel” among the utilities.
- Right-click on it and select the “Pin to taskbar” option.
Advice! You can add the Control Panel tile to your Start screen using the same method.
Video
The video shows 6 ways to open the control panel.
Conclusion
We figured out where the “Control Panel” is located in Windows 10, although Microsoft developers hid the necessary icon from users. If you often need to access management tools, then it is recommended to display the icon on the desktop - this is the most convenient way to have constant access to tools that allow you to customize the operation of the operating system.
The Windows taskbar changed from version to version, but its purpose remained the same: launching programs and switching between them. This panel is used all the time, so it would be a good idea to customize it to suit your needs.
Choosing a location for the taskbar
Since the first versions of Windows, it has been the custom that the taskbar in the system is located at the bottom. Apparently, back then they could not predict the appearance of wide-format monitors. Nowadays, on huge screens, a wide taskbar takes up extra space. Therefore, it is better to place it vertically.
If your taskbar is undocked, you can drag it to the desired corner of the screen. Or simply specify the position of the taskbar by right-clicking on it and selecting Options.
Place icons in the center
By placing icons in the center, you will give the taskbar a Dock-like appearance. This is useful if you are used to working with a Mac. Besides, it's just beautiful.
To move icons to the center:
- Unpin the taskbar. To do this, right-click on it and uncheck “Pin the taskbar”. Then click on the taskbar again and select “Links” from the “Panels” menu item. Drag the icons to the center.
- Right-click on the "Links" menu and uncheck the boxes next to "Show captions" and "Show title."
To return the icons to their usual position, simply remove “Links” from the taskbar.
