Weather gadget not working- Cannot connect to service

Nonsense, since after first Win Update it won't work again!

Instead DO as I wrote in this Forum already March 1, 2015:

a) it works, so it's not nonsense;

b) it has nothing to do with Windows Updates, once the problem has been triggered.

The sound of you polishing your ego is getting very tiresome!

Your "brilliant" fix is merely a special case of a solution posted earlier by several other people.

The root cause is that the gadget software insists on refreshing the config.xml file at least every 72 hours. The filename is hard-coded into the program and the file is no longer available, so the problem is intractable.

Fiddling your clock can also have unexpected (and unwelcome) consequences. If you have logging that depends on the entries being in strict time order, or run one of several programs that watch the clock and disable themselves if time is running backwards (presumably to extend the license or trial period).

Making the file read-only is completely superfluous!

So why don't you stop insulting anyone who doesn't see the world through your ego?

T.

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 .

I found this fix on another forum and it is easier than anything else 

("Gadgets have been discontinued", "Microsoft has discontinued gadgets" and so on)!

Here how you fix this issue:

Go to "C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live\Services\Cache", open "Config.xml" (RMB -> Edit) and save it (File -> Save) without doing any changes. OR remove one little character and replace it back exactly as you found it then save changes.

After 10-20 seconds restart the gadget!

Nonsense, since after first Win Update it won't work again!

Instead DO as I wrote in this Forum already March 1, 2015:

"This morning I simply changed the Date on the config.xml, to 2017, and then set the Attribute READ ONLY on the file, and it's still working ..."

And i haven't touched that file since then = March 1, and it's still working today May 8, 2015.

Go to:

C:\Users\YourWindowsUserName\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live\Services\Cache\Config.xml

Just change the date in your computer to be Year 2017 (or ANY year in the Future!), then Open and RE-save the config.xml, and then set the date back again to the correct date.  No need to change anything inside the config.xml to RE-save it!

And to set Attribute just rightclick the config.xml, chose Properties, and Click Read-Only, click OK.

This fix still works however the locations posted are incorrect.

Use these:

%localappdata%\microsoft\windows live\services\cache\config.xml

%localappdata%\microsoft\windows sidebar\cache\168522d5-1082-4df2-b2f6-9185c31f9472

%localappdata%\microsoft\windows sidebar\settings.ini

Please be aware that the working part of this is refreshing the "date modified" of config.xml.

The other two files suggested do not contribute to the gadget's restore, and there is no need for that second, "working" machine (user account, that is). There is no such thing as a working or non-working copy of config.xml. The only working or non-working part is the "date modified".

When applying that fix, start with config.xml and wait for about 1-2 minutes. That alone will do. Next time the gadget stops working, and it will, don't copy the file, but refresh the date modified by right-clicking the file, choosing "edit" and saving with no changes. That alone will work, too.