Tag: Windows 7

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Stocks Gadget missing on Windows 7 RTM

If you have used this gadget you probably know that all of the other available stock gadgets don’t come close to its looks and ease of use. I was really disappointed to see Microsoft remove the gadget from the tool kit in the final version of Windows 7.

I am sure they had their reasons; my best guess is whoever provided the quotes for this gadget didn’t want to do it anymore? Or maybe because it does have a 20 minute delay and most apps are real time now?

I was able to find a solution to get the Stock Gadget running on Windows 7 RTM.

I will detail the solution here but to give credit where credit is due I found the solution here (thanks AthlonXP1800):
http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w7itproappcompat/thread/6fea0e6d-1074-492f-a76c-6af214802d1d

1) You will need to have the Gadget from Windows 7 RC1 (although I am sure its floating around the internet.) You can find the files you need at “C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\Gadgets\Stocks.Gadget” (copy the entire folder)

2) You will also need the “C:\Program Files\Windows Sidebar\wlsrvc.dll” DLL file from the Windows 7 RC1 machine.

NOTE: If you cannot find a Windows 7 RC1 machine you could try using these files from a Vista machines although I am not sure if it would work.

3) Click the Start button, type CMD, when it comes up right click on it and run as administrator (or just press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER after typing CMD)

4) Once the command prompt window is open type the following commands:

C:
CD “\Program Files\Windows Sidebar”
TASKKILL /F /T /IM SIDEBAR.EXE
TAKEOWN /f wlsrvc.dll
icacls wlsrvc.dll /grant %username%:F

5) Take that DLL file from your other machine and copy it to “c:\program files\windows sidebar”

6) Finally, copy the Stocks.Gadget Folder from the other machine and copy it to “c:\program files\windows sidebar\gadgets” folder.

7) You can restart the Sidebar application by running “c:\program files\windows sidebar\sidebar.exe” or by rebooting your PC.

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Windows 7 performance on your next Netbook?

So I recently got a new Dell Mini 10 notebook. I had always planned to rebuild it on Windows 7 but before I did I thought I would take a benchmark test. Everyone thought that Windows 7 would be slower on a Netbook. The following test shows otherwise.

Turns out it was almost twice as fast.

Windows XP Windows 7

Total Performance Rating

99.1

172.2

I don’t have much to explain it. The only thoughts I have are that Windows 7 was designed to run on Netbooks. Also given that selling point they may have tweaked Windows 7 to run better on benchmark tests giving an inflated result. Also the XP benchmark was taken with all of the Dell preloaded software on it which could have been slowing the system down.

In any event, that should show everyone that if you are thinking of upgrading to Windows 7 but are worried about speed, you have nothing to worry about.

Test Name

Windows XP

Windows 7
CPU – Integer Math

17.7

21.6
CPU – Floating Point Math

81.5

94.9
CPU – Find Prime Numbers

54.4

65.0
CPU – Multimedia Instructions

0.9

1.1
CPU – Compression

618.7

708.3
CPU – Encryption

2.3

2.6
CPU – Physics

14.7

16.3
CPU – String Sorting

307.4

382.1
Graphics 2D – Solid Vectors

1.7

0.6
Graphics 2D – Transparent Vectors

1.0

0.7
Graphics 2D – Complex Vectors

31.2

17.2
Graphics 2D – Fonts and Text

18.4

21.8
Graphics 2D – Windows Interface

21.4

11.5
Graphics 2D – Image Filters

74.1

72.9
2D Graphics – Image Rendering

73.0

83.8
Graphics 3D – Simple

8.9

62.4
Graphics 3D – Medium

3.4

6.4
Graphics 3D – Complex

1.0

1.6
Memory – Allocate Small Block

681.2

682.1
Memory – Read Cached

626.8

715.5
Memory – Read Uncached

569.1

597.8
Memory – Write

559.6

616.5
Memory – Large RAM

75.2

76.1
Disk – Sequential Read

43.4

38.3
Disk – Sequential Write

47.0

43.3
Disk – Random Seek + RW

2.2

2.0
CPU Mark

254.2

305.2
2D Graphics Mark

139.8

87.3
Memory Mark

173.9

186.2
Disk Mark

334.7

302.1
3D Graphics Mark

9.1

31.4
Total Performance Rating

99.1

172.2


  • Dell Inspiron 1010
  • Inspiron 1010, Intel Atom Processor Z530, 1.6GHz, 533MHzFSB, 512K L2 Cache
  • 1GB RAM
  • 10.1 Inch High Definition Widescreen Display (1366×768)
  • Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 500
  • 160GB, 2.5inch, 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
  • Genuine Windows XP Home Edition SP3
  • Dell Wireless 1510 802.11n Half Mini Card
  • Integrated 1.3M Pixel Webcam
  • 56WHr Lithium-Ion (larger batter)