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
    2015-04-06T15:50:16+00:00

    Greetings Bru20,

    There is no reason to make the config.xml file R/O. It does not get changed when the gadget fails.

    The search function is, at this time, BROKEN! no funciona! Temporary or permanent? Who knows?

    I have not detected any outgoing queries, and I expect the query site is down/dead/broken. Does anyone know where the queries should go?

    T

    Making it Read-only was part of the "future date fix" that was posted by someone else. They gave a reason why it needs to be that way and since the gadget continues to work and does not fail I don't see any harm in leaving it that way.  Again I will say if you haven't done the "futrure date fix" I would recommend it.  Once done there is no need to frequently resave the Config.xml.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-04-06T15:35:35+00:00

    Greetings Bru20,

    There is no reason to make the config.xml file R/O. It does not get changed when the gadget fails.

    The search function is, at this time, BROKEN! no funciona! Temporary or permanent? Who knows?

    I have not detected any outgoing queries, and I expect the query site is down/dead/broken. Does anyone know where the queries should go?

    T

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-04-06T15:31:15+00:00

    Problem 2: CANNOT find location

    This is a whole new problem! The lookup function is broken! Whether this is deliberate or accidental is a good question to which I do not have an answer. It does not appear to have anything to do with security settings. The Sidebar gadgets have access to the internet (specifically to akamaitechnologies.com), and I can find no firewall restrictions that apply to this problem.

    The rather idiosyncratic AOL/weather.com location codes can be found using Volume Z's technique.

    Note: Only the WeatherLocationCode value needs to be changed. The format is wc:{location}. The WeatherLocation string is updated automatically when the query runs.

    To change the location code:

    • use perfmon.exe to stop sidebar.exe.
    • Edit the value for WeatherLocationCode in settings.ini and resave the file.
    • Right click on the desktop to start the sidebar selector. The gadgets should restart.
    • Close the sidebar selector.

    Best regards,

    T

    Do you (or anyone else) know if the lookup function is broken no matter what?  Some said a file or setting may have become corrupted breaking the function.  Does anyone still have the lookup function working?

    I understand how you can change the locaton code, trying to understand if the lookup function is permanently broke.

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