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 .

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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
    2015-10-16T23:36:45+00:00

    There is a perfectly working solution to this problem (I have figured it out, and tested at more than 12 windows 7 computers and it is still working for 8 months after the fix was applied)... and you will not find it documented anywhere :) You can even "set" how long the gadget remains working...

    So be the first to know!

    Sorry to burst your bubble but the date fix was posted almost eight months ago.  It is mentioned on Page 22 but may have been posted even earlier than that.  No third party tool is needed either.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-10-16T22:29:02+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 .

    There is a perfectly working solution to this problem (I have figured it out, and tested at more than 12 windows 7 computers and it is still working for 8 months after the fix was applied)... and you will not find it documented anywhere :) You can even "set" how long the gadget remains working...

    So be the first to know!

    The problem is that MS is NOT documenting how the Weather gadget at Windows 7 is actually working.

    I have figured out that Weather gadget is ACTUALLY using/checking the Config.xml file date-modified attribute!!! And depending of the date it is working=connecting to the service or not connecting... So to fix it all you need is just to set date-modified attribute to some future date (e.g. 10 years higher - 12/12/2025), but you shall need a third party tool(e.g. Total Commander - the fastest method, Altap Salamander File Manager or PowerShell - the longest method) to set/change this attribute:

    1. Open Task Manager and kill sidebar.exe process
    2. With Total Commander navigate to hidden folder (so make it visible at Total Commander settings or copy-paste the proper path at "path-address bar"):

    "C:\Users\YourUser\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live\Services\Cache" 

    There should be a single file "Config.xml" and verify what is its date modified value... quite old or not up-to-date, isn't it?

    1. Mark the Confilg.file (one left-click), then go to "Files" menu at the left top corner of Total Commander window and select "Change attributes...".
    2. In new widow just change the date/time to e.g. year 2020 and click OK.
    3. Verify if the date-modified has been changed.
    4. Right click at desktop and pick "Gadgets" at the context menu or restart computer.
    5. Add Weather gadget IF NOT present... it should be updating now... set the correct location if needed. but then Upps... date-modified is reset to current date/time... so do again 1-6 skipping changing the location...
    6. You are done... your weather gadget should be working approx. one month longer than the set date (if you do not reset the location)!

    Good luck!

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-10-12T00:55:38+00:00

    I have already done that, been trying stuff all day!  I don't think that's the problem like I said I had it working just fine before, and then I got a new hard drive and reload of W7 and even tho I told pc guy to save those files and those places to put those files, he didn't.

    I have the code for the weather gadget, it's just not going to work as a note pad in the cache portion of that string, that's not how I had it before when it worked, and it's obviously not working now

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