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.