Gadgets Revived: Over 900 Desktop Gadgets for Windows 8.1

This article is about where to download gadgets for Windows 10 and how to install them on the system - both of these questions are asked by users who updated to the new version of the OS from Windows 10, where they have already gotten used to desktop gadgets (such as clocks, weather , CPU indicator and others). I'll show you three ways to do this. There is also a video at the end of the instructions that shows all these ways to get free desktop gadgets for Windows 10. By default, in Windows 10 there is no official way to install gadgets, this feature has been removed from the system and you are expected to use the new tiles instead applications that can also display the required information. However, you can download a third-party free program that will return the usual functionality of gadgets located on the desktop - two such programs will be discussed below. Overview of the ASP.NET Core framework

Windows Desktop Gadgets (Gadgets Revived)

The free Gadgets Revived program returns gadgets to Windows 10 exactly as they were in Windows 7 - the same set, in Russian, in the same interface as before.

After installing the program, you can click on the “Gadgets” item in the desktop context menu (by right-clicking the mouse), and then select which ones you want to place on the desktop.

All standard gadgets are available: weather, clock, calendar and other original gadgets from Microsoft, with all skins (themes) and customization functions.

In addition, the program will return gadget management functions to the personalization section of the control panel and the “View” desktop context menu item.

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You can download the Gadgets Revived program for free on the official page https://gadgetsrevived.com/download-sidebar/

Program “8GadgetPack”

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The main advantage of the program, which can be freely downloaded, in comparison with its competitors, is its fairly large library of gadgets, including more than 50 options.

Here's what you need to do to start using this software product:

1. Follow the link https://8gadgetpack.net and download the installation file to any convenient location on your computer.

2. Double-click on the downloaded file to start the installation of the program.

3. In the installation window that opens, click the “Install” button, after which we give our consent to make changes to the system.

4. We are waiting for the installation process to complete. In the last window, informing that the gadget has been successfully installed, a checkbox will automatically be selected in the lower left corner opposite the option that will allow you to immediately launch the gadget. We leave everything as is and click the “Finish” button.

5. A sidebar with gadgets will appear on the right side of the desktop, including the clock that we wanted.

6. By right-clicking on any free space in the panel, we will open a context menu with which you can add other elements. To do this, click on the “Add gadget...” item.

7. A list of available elements that can be displayed in the sidebar will open. Please note that they are presented on 4 pages, which you can switch between using the navigation area in the upper left corner of the window.

8. To add a new gadget to the Desktop, double-click on it with the left mouse button or drag it to the panel while holding down the left mouse button.

   
   Or you can right-click on the desired gadget and select “Add” from the menu that opens.

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9. A gadget added to the sidebar can be dragged to any convenient location on the Desktop.

10. If we hover over the gadget, functional buttons will appear on its right side:
    “cross” – allows you to close the gadget.
11. icon in the form of a wrench – opens settings in which you can: select 1 of 8 different design styles;
12. set the clock name;
13. select time zone;
14. turn on the display of the second hand;
15. When everything is ready, click OK to save the settings and exit.

16. The clock we configured will immediately appear on the desktop.

17. You can change the settings of the gadget itself and the sidebar (including closing them) by selecting the appropriate items in the context menu, which is called up by right-clicking on any free space in the panel.

To install other gadgets using 8GadgetPack, do the following:

1. Download the file with the new gadget from trusted sources (file extension – “gadget”).
2. If the downloaded file is zipped, we need to unpack it in any place convenient for us.
3. We launch the file and agree to add it to the program library.

8GadgetPack

8GadgetPack is another free program for installing gadgets on the Windows 10 desktop, although it is somewhat more functional than the previous one (but not entirely in Russian). After installing it, just like in the previous case, you can proceed to selecting and adding gadgets through the desktop context menu.

The first difference is a much wider selection of gadgets: in addition to the standard ones, there are additional ones for all occasions - lists of running processes, advanced system monitors, a unit converter, and several weather gadgets alone.

The second is the presence of useful settings, which can be called up by launching 8GadgetPack from the “All applications” menu. Despite the fact that the settings are in English, everything is quite clear:

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• Add gadget - adding and removing installed gadgets.
• Disable Autorun - disable auto-loading of gadgets when Windows starts
• Make gadgets larger - makes gadgets larger in size (for high-resolution monitors, where they may appear small).
• Disable Win+G for gadgets - since in Windows 10 the Win+G key combination opens the screen recording panel by default, this program intercepts this combination and turns on the display of gadgets based on it. This menu item is used to return the default settings.

You can download Windows 10 gadgets in this version from the official website https://8gadgetpack.net/

Missed Features Installer 10

Missed Features Installer 10 is an ISO image (total size over 1.3 GB) that includes tools to change the settings of the Windows 10 operating system. This application has now been discontinued and removed by the developer.

To install gadgets on your computer, in the Missed Features Installer 10 window you need to click on the “Gadgets” button.

Missed Features Installer 10, under the name Windows Desktops Gadgets, adds gadgets included in the 8GadgetPack program to Windows 10, so there is no point in analyzing this application in detail.

How to download Windows 10 gadgets as part of the MFI10 package

Missed Features 10 (MFI10) is a package of components for Windows 10 that were present in previous versions of the system, but disappeared in 10, among which there are desktop gadgets, and, as our user requires, in Russian (despite the English language installer interface).

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MFI10 is an ISO disk image, over a gigabyte in size, which can be downloaded for free from the official site (update: MFI has disappeared from these sites, not sure where to look now) mfi.webs.com or mfi-project.weebly.com (ibid. there are versions for previous versions of Windows). I note that the SmartScreen filter in the Edge browser blocks the loading of this file, but I was not able to detect anything suspicious in its operation (still be careful, in this case I cannot guarantee cleanliness).

After downloading the image, mount it on the system (in Windows 10 this is done simply by double-clicking on the ISO file) and run MFI10 located in the root folder of the disk. First, the license agreement will launch, and after clicking the “Ok” button, a menu will appear with a selection of components to install. On the first screen of which you will see the “Gadgets” item, which is required in order to install Windows 10 desktop gadgets.

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The default installation is in Russian, and after it is completed, in the control panel you will find the “Desktop Gadgets” item (for me this item appeared only after entering “Gadgets” in the control panel search window, i.e. not immediately), work which, like the set of available gadgets, is no different from what it was before.

Where can I find widgets?

After returning the gadget display function using the programs that were discussed earlier, you will have the opportunity to add any third-party widgets. To do this, it is recommended to visit one of the following portals:

• wru;
• wnet;
• wcom.

Each resource listed offers a huge number of widgets with a time display function. For convenience, you can search for gadgets by name or user rating. The download is free, and the file with the desktop add-on weighs no more than 1 MB.

Gadgets for Windows 10 - video

The video below shows exactly where to get the gadgets and how to install them in Windows 10 for the three options described above.

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All three programs reviewed also allow you to download and install third-party gadgets on the Windows 10 desktop, however, the developers note that a small number of them do not work for some reason. However, for most users, I think the existing set will be sufficient.

Desktop Clock widget for Windows 10

One of the popular functional features of Windows 7 was the presence of desktop gadgets (or widgets). In addition to several already built-in extensions, the system supported the installation of additional widgets from the Internet, which made it possible to rationally configure the workspace.

Windows 10 from Microsoft, just like the previous Windows 8, again upset users by the lack of such a widget panel. According to the OS developers themselves, the decision to completely abandon the usual system of gadgets was influenced by several global reasons, namely:

• uselessness of the function. One of the main ways to develop the new OS was the rebranding of the design, where this kind of extension was simply not included conceptually;
• security of users' personal data. However, this point is controversial. It is difficult to even imagine that such an insignificant extension of the operating system as a widget can harm the user's security.

In the new Windows OS (version 8/10), desktop widgets were replaced by dynamic tiles, which to some extent were supposed to replace them. For example, the “Alarms and Clocks” application tile has even more functionality than the “Clock” gadget in Windows 7. The situation is similar with other dynamic tiles. However, the problem with all the available tiles is that none of them can be placed on the desktop, unlike the same widgets. To find out the necessary information, you constantly need to go to the Start menu.

If you don’t have the dynamic “Alarms and Clocks” tile in place, then the gadget can be found in “Start” in the general list of all installed applications

Not all users are happy with this situation. For their sake, third-party software developers tried to return the function of desktop widgets to modern operating systems. Let's look at the most popular programs that can complement Windows 10 with the necessary Clock widget.

Checking existing gadgets and installing new ones

We transfer the “Clock” and “CPU indicator” gadgets to the Desktop, they work correctly, the time shows the correct one. When testing the “exchange rate”, for some reason the panel asked to reboot, but after a second it continued working as normal, everything is fine.

It's time to install some new gadgets. We go to and select, for example, Simple Clock and Yandex.Weather, download, install. Both gadgets “landed” normally on Windows 8.1, the time and weather are shown correctly. Hooray!

It is worth noting that testing was specifically carried out under Windows 8.1, as the most recent and supported version of the G8. We also cannot fail to mention an alternative project for returning gadgets to Window 8 - 8GadgetPack. Initially, there was an idea to describe both applications, but... Gadgets Revived turned out to be quite a worthy option, it was decided not to create confusion and leave it. If something changes in the future, we will keep 8GadgetPack in mind.