Alright, so I'm trying to come up with a fix for the whole MSFT hates gadgets issue that results in the Weather and Stock gadgets to stop reporting.
I know the fix (dead simple really), but I'm trying to automate it and I'm lacking the core functionality. I need to be able to open up a specific XML file, save it (with no changes), and close it. I'm not sure that Wordpad is required, but wherever I originally tracked the fix to, that was mentioned.
I have the rest of the batch file working as listed below, but I can't test the fix until it breaks (again). I don't know when/why that happens after a long period of time, but it does ever since MSFT pulled the support plug. So if anyone knows a way to test what I'm asking for, then I can try it Once on the last laptop in the house that I haven't re-applied the fix to. If this looks messy, that's because I haven't taken a programming class in half a decade. I'm trying to keep this simple and universal so that I can put it up for the world to enjoy as none of the other fixes listed online actually work. This fix works even with IE11 installed!
::hide the whole process
@echo off
::change the time stamp on the affected file
copy /b "%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live\Services\Cache\config.xml" +,,
::restart the gadget process
taskkill /im sidebar.exe /f
start "" "%ProgramFiles%\Windows Sidebar\sidebar.exe"
::close the related command window
exitHere's the manual fix for those interested:
Open up the file: C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live\Services\Cache\config.xml in notepad.
DO NOT make any changes, but just hit Save.
Wait 30 seconds and they should be working again.
NOTE: If the file doesn't exist on your PC, then you can use a copy from someone else's PC. Just copy it to that location and follow the steps.