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
    2015-03-07T18:53:30+00:00

    Well...

    If you want to be taken seriously, explain why this works.

    Does the file content change?

    Does the gadget care about the Create/Save/Access timestamps?

    How often does your timeserver restore the correct date/time?

    What unexpected side-effects will this have on applications that store (for example) log data in sequence, ordered by GMT? Oops!

    Do I need to chew garlic and rub woad on my belly before or after this process?

    Inquiring minds, and all that...

    I didn't come up with it.  AndersWillhelmsson did.  So far it has worked for me but I haven't had it implemented long enough to know if its a permanent fix (or at least as far in the future as you date the file).

    As for why it works I think its apparent that Config.xml goes "bad" somehow which causes the gadget to stop working.  Resaving it "fixes" it but invariably it will go bad again.  By changing the date to the future and setting it for read only it appears it prevents this from happening.  At least that's my take.  You can always keep resaving the Config.xml file whenever the gadget stops, you'll just have to do it once a week or so.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-03-07T19:48:48+00:00

    Okay, I finally got this to work just now, Sting!

    And, thank you to the person that pointed out why I was unable to find some of the folders involved here (they were hidden). I'm familiar with the concept of hidden folders of course but it has been a long time since I was in Windows Explorer, and so I didn't even think about that.

    Anyway, make the hidden folders visible... follow the instructions as outlined by Sting... and that will solve your problem - the weather gadget works again!

    I found it interesting that on the computer that I was trying to fix this issue that it was missing the entire 168522d5-1082-4df2-b2f6-9185c31f9472 folder in the Windows Sidebar\Cache folder. Who knows where it went to before but it's all fixed now.

    Thanks again!

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-03-07T19:50:24+00:00

    Thanks! That was exactly it. Once I made those folders visible I was able to proceed ahead with the original instructions which had a successful outcome (weather gadget works again)!

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