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
    2015-05-21T23:13:17+00:00

    But lets state facts here instead:

    Changing the Year on the config.xml to 2017

    and then setting it as a Read-Only file WILL

    make the Weather Gadget work again, That's it.

    There are no need for any other 'fixes' than that.

    Whoever came up with the Windows Update idea is wrong. It has no influence on the gadget, not even sometimes or a little bit.

    The only fix essential is changing the file's date to the future. Forget about the read-only part. Nothing at all will happen if you leave this out. It doesn't work like that. Config.xml can't be made not work in a sense the read-only attribute would help against. Your refusal to accept this results from not fully understanding the background process, despite having had the proper idea for a solution.

    Regards, VZ

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-05-20T20:03:09+00:00

    This fix worked like a charm for me.  I had to recreate my other gadgets like the news feed, clock, and battery backup monitor, however.  Those were out of date from the time the weather stopped working but they updated on their own in a couple of minutes.

    Thank you!

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-05-17T05:01:49+00:00

    @Anders:

    "Someone else mentioned that it might be Win Update that messes with the date on the config.xml"

    You mentioned it, and you didn't mean maybe. Quote: "Nonsense, since after first Win Update it won't work again!"

    Sigh ... yes, I WROTE it ALSO, AFTER that someone else Already HAD mentioned Win Update AS a possible source of error = Win Update sometimes mess with the config.xml file.

    I'm NOT the originator of that statement, AS anyone that reads back in the threadS (there are at least Four threads like this one) about this, will see.

    But lets state facts here instead:

    Changing the Year on the config.xml to 2017

    and then setting it as a Read-Only file WILL

    make the Weather Gadget work again, That's it.

    There are no need for any other 'fixes' than that.

    Please realize that, and leave this thread alone from now on; there's really no need to complicate and confuse people even more, Thank You!

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