Weather gadget not working- Cannot connect to service

Anonymous
2013-01-14T14:07:43+00:00

original title: Weather gadget not working !!

I have Windows 7 Ultimate 64 - bit and my weather gadget is not working, it is displaying a message "Cannot connect to service .

I have also tried by turning off firewall and antivirus but it still don't works for me .

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Accessibility

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2013-01-15T09:19:57+00:00

Update:

Microsoft has DISABLED the weather and currency gadgets via a recent Security Update, due to concerns over the vulnerability associated with these gadgets running on your computer. You can read more about it here: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2719662 . Adjusting your computer's settings and all these other "suggestions" people are making, will NOT work. The function has been REMOVED from the operating system. It has also been removed from the Windows 8 operating system. There are "theorists" that either agree that there is a security issue within the gadgets or Microsoft just does not want to support gadgets (usually third party software) and thus, has disabled them in Windows 7 and eliminated them in Windows 8.

Thanks to DaveNYC for the Info. Spread the word because many people are facing this problem just like you.

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Anonymous
2015-05-29T15:03:04+00:00

To all having this problem, the following worked for me:

After eading all kind of solutions, I changed the config.xml file according instructions and then I got connected but only to my own location (in my case Amsterdam). Tried everything else, no results, till I only give the exact zip code for the place I like to see the weather in the search menu and guess it worked, then I did the same on my computer in Greece (via teamviewer) and there it worked as well.

I hope it will help you as good as it did for me.

Ron

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  1. Anonymous
    2013-03-07T12:56:10+00:00

    No problem guys thank you for the kind words. I apologize if my directory paths to the config.xml, system.ini, and cache folder were not 100% accurate. I wrote up my fix from memory in about 3 minutes before bed the other night. It had been a long day lol. The wildcards ( % %) for the application data directory were just a way of getting to the target locations quicker from the Run menu rather than Windows Explorer. I am glad Neil was able to clarify the exact path for you!

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  2. Anonymous
    2013-03-07T12:27:26+00:00

     

    Hi everyone,

     

    I do not typically post on any type of forums but this issue really got me into some fun troubleshooting. I am an IT Engineer for the military so I just wanted to ensure anyone who gives this a shot that I have been a Windows expert for half of my life now. It SHOULD fix your issue, but if it does not it will not break anything so give it a shot if nothing else has worked for you.

     

     That said, I just spent 2 hours Googling and Binging trying to figure out why my father's stock weather gadget stopped working all of a sudden. Other machines in the house (all running Windows 7 Ultimate) were still working fine. This also affects the currency gagdet which he does not use.

     

    I tried at least 7 different fixes that I read online...fixes from toggling your region settings, to disabling and re-enabling the gadget unchecking automatically detect in IE, to creating an elevated privs dword in the registry, to renaming the cache folder under app data\user\local\microsoft\windows live\services. Nothing worked. Cannot Connect to Service popped up whenever dragging out the gadget no matter what I attempted. I also read on numerous sites that Microsoft disabled the weather and currency gadget in a recent Windows update. I can confirm that this is NOT true. They recommend you stop using gadgets due to security vulnerabilities, but there is no AUTOMATIC update that will actually disable said two stock gadgets. There is however, a manual Fix It download from Microsoft you can install to perform the disabling of the gadgets. This is a manual download/install, not an automatic update.

     

     

    So that brings me to what I did to fix it :-) So the renaming of the cache folder idea (which did not work) seemed like an idea I could expand upon. I tried a few different things and finally found the right combination of steps:

     

    A) Copy the following files and folder from a Windows 7 machine with a working stock weather gadget to a flash drive or network file share:

     

    1. %localappdata%\affected user\local\microsoft\windows\windows live\services\cache\config.xml (just copy the file)

     

    1. %localappdata%\affected user\local\microsoft\windows\windows sidebar\cache\168522d5-1082-4df2-b2f6-9185c31f9472 (copy entire folder which should contain one or more xml files)

     

    1. %localappdata%\affected user\local\microsoft\windows\windows sidebar\settings.ini (just copy the file)

     

     

    B) Paste (OVERWRITING if necessary) the copied folder and files into the same locations on the machine whose stock weather gadget is not working.

     

     

    C) Drag the weather gadget back out and this time it should be working

     

    *** As I mentioned earlier, this issue effects both the weather and currency gadgets. I did not, however, attempt to fix the currency gadget. I would surmise that you would follow my same process above but also copy a second folder besides the one listed above (this time you would grab the one for the currency gadget) under %localappdata%\affected user\local\microsoft\windows\windows sidebar\cache. You would then paste the folder (overwriting if necessary) in the same location on the effected machine

    CHEERS! Sting251 :)

    Along with your suggestions, I got some help off another sound guy - Neil - (the %localapps' etc were a little 'tweaked' here & there!) & now my gadgets are working fine :o) Thanks to you specifically. Great stuff, keep up the good work!

    All the best, t-bo1972

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  3. Anonymous
    2013-03-07T11:02:16+00:00

    Hi t-bo1972,

    Thanks, but a "Genius" I am not! The "real deal" is Sting251.

    Cheers, Neil.

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