On Windows Live Gallery, there are almost 4000 Dekstop gadgets available divided into several categories. I usually download new and useful gadgets from those that I think can help in my daily activities both online and offline.

I’ve dozens of these gadgets already installed in my system but here I’m compiling a list of some useful gadgets that can give a helping hand in doing some common tasks that you do, to increase your productivity.

1. Web Search

Search from any search engine from this small and compact gadget. Search google, live, yahoo, ask, altavista, news, maps, images, music, software, weather, youtube, ebay, amazon, dictionary and even wikipedia.

Download

2. Volume Controller

A simple volume and mute control for the Sidebar.

Download

3. Application Launcher

Launch your most frequently used applications from the sidebar by clicking the icons. Drag and Drop to add to the list.

Download

4. Dictionary

Quickly search for definitions and synonyms of input words.

Download

5. Clipboard Manager

This is a real time saver. Experience a new dimension of Windows Clipboard and manage it from Windows Sidebar. Use Clipboard History, build your Favorite Clips, timestamp your remarks, enjoy additional tools

Download

6. To-do List

ToDo Gadget, easily manage and track your daily to-do list. ToDo gadget lets you add up to 7 tasks. You can highlight tasks in different colors and change their priorities, everything you need to get things done!

Download

7. Calculator

Simple yet advanced Calculator now in your sidebar for easy calculations.Almost the best sidebar calculator – by far the best visually.

Download

8. RUN

a quick access to RUN of windows.

Download

9. Windows Media Player

Plays your music and videos, without WMP being open

Download

10. Control System (with Clock)

With this Control System With Clock you can simply control standby, shutdown, restart, logoff or hibernate your Computer from you Windows Sidebar. And also contains 16 skin.

Download

11. Screen Snapper

Scree
n Snapper is a powerful, flexible and intuitive screen-capture utility. It allows you to capture anything on the screen. Can capture full screen. Can capture windows or objects in the screen. Can capture regions in the screen. Copy image to clipboard automatically. Can automatically save captured images. Can Save images in 7 popular formats: BMP/EMF/GIF/JPG/PNG/TIFF/WMF

Download

12. Mini Browser

A mini Web browser for the sidebar.
- Create “Web clips” and monitor any area of a web page.
- Reload the home page at a given interval.
- Now allows to specify the size of the browser.
- Ideal for: network monitoring, news headlines, web radio, video playlists, web TV, and much more…

Download

13. Windows Live Writer Gadget

With this gadget you can open a new blog entry, open a previous blog entry or even open the options right from your sidebar (or have it floating and open Writer from anywhere). Not only this, but you can drag and drop onto the gadget too. The gadget supports images, urls, and image urls for drag and drop, and each one will open a new blog entry in Writer with the relevant details already in.

Download

14. Unit Converter

Ver useful tool with nice interface. Can convert any unit:
Length, Area, Volume, Mass (Weight), Angle, Time, Speed, Velocity, Pressure,Energy, Work, amount of heat,Power or heat flow rate,Data Storage,Temperature and more.

Download

15. All in one System Monitor

The System Monitor shows important information of your PC. Like, Time, Wifi Connections, Battery Level, System usage, Drives free spaces, Recycle bin status, Quick shutdown buttons.

Download

If you are using Windows XP, then Disabling the Hibernation feature is fairly straightforward using the Power Options in the Control Panel But if you are a Vista user then its bit trickier to disable it, since there’s no graphical way present to disable this.

In order to enable your system to Hibernate, Windows reserves the space just for Hibernating purpose and creates a hidden file (c:\hiberfil.sys) which is roughly equal in size to the amount of RAM your system has.

Hence if you have 1GB of RAM, then you’ll have a corresponding hiberfil.sys file which is will also be 1GB in size.

If you do not use Hibernation Mode, you may disable it to clear the file off your hard drive to free up (that reserved) space.

To disable hibernation using the Command Prompt, do the following:

1. Click Start, All Programs, and then right-click Command Prompt.
2. From the menu, click “Run As Administrator”.
3. If User Account Control prompts you to allow the action, click Continue.
4. In the command prompt window, type :
powercfg –h off

5. Close the Command Prompt window.

That’s it !! We have just disabled Hibernation and freed up some disk space.

But if you later decide to enable Hibernation, you can do so by following all the steps but this time type:
powercfg –h on
instead of
powercfg –h off

You can check disabled hibertion, by going to the power options, the Hibernation state will be disabled as an option.

Another way to ensure that hibernation is disbaled is that
1. Go to properties of the partition of the drive where Vista is installed.
2. Check the free space and note down it down.
3. Restart the system
4. Check the free space of that drive again.
It will show you more free space

Let’s say your Hard drive is running out of space and you may want to remove Vista from your system, to reclaim the hard drive space.

Here are the few easy steps we need to follow to uninstall Vista from the dual-boot situation:

1. Boot your computer in to Windows XP.
2. Insert Vista DVD in the DVD drive.
3. Now Go to “Start” and “Run”.

Type in
X:\boot\bootsect.exe /nt52 ALL /force
(replacing X: with the drive letter of your Vista DVD Drive).

4. Restart the computer, and you will notice the boot selection menu is now gone.

5. If you had Vista on a separate partition you may now format that partition/drive.

6. After Restart, now Remove two files (Boot.BAK & Bootsect.BAK) from your XP drive’s root folder (C:)
(These were backup files of your previous bootloader, which are now no longer useful.)

7. Restart the system to ensure it still works.

You now have returned your computer to its previous state with Windows XP only, without Vista and without the new bootloader.

More than any version of Windows ever — Vista has most unnecessary options included. All of features indirectly slowing down system’s performance, but you never Know.

You can regain some PC performance by removing unneeded features.

I’ve identified some of those Vista features that you can turn off right now. Some are shiny baubles that slow down graphics performance, while others are optional utilities that hog memory when they shouldn’t. A few can actually be quite useful, though they play a major role in bogging down your PC.

Should you really turn off all of the following features ?? That depends on your computer usage, your work habits, and your tastes. (I’ve turned off only seven and a half on my PC, because while none of these features are required for Vista to function, some are still kind of nice and my computer is fast enough to handle them.)

Just to be on the safe side, make sure to create a restore point before you turn any of the items off. That way you can quickly return your machine to its present state should you decide that you don’t like the change.

To make a restore point, click Start, type sysdm.cpl, and press Enter. Choose System Protection, Create, and then follow the prompts.

OK, Here we go…

1. Sidebar
You pay a heavy performance price for the analog clock, thumbnail slide-show viewer, and Microsoft-centric RSS news feed that dock in the Windows Sidebar. Turning the whole thing off gives you a big speed boost, especially at boot time.

To remove the Sidebar, right-click anywhere on the Sidebar and select Close Sidebar. Uncheck Start Sidebar when Windows starts, and then click OK.

2. Aero
Microsoft put a lot of Vista’s visual enhancements under one technological and marketing umbrella: Aero. Among those features are the thumbnails of your windows that appear when you hover the mouse pointer over the taskbar, as well as the Flip 3D view you get by pressing Windows-Tab. Aero adds a little practicality and a lot of attraction to the Vista user interface, and personally, I like it.

If your PC is underpowered or overloaded, however, Aero may be more trouble than it’s worth. To turn it off, right-click the Windows desktop and select Personalize, Window Color and Appearance. In the resulting “Window Color and Appearance” dialog box, click Open classic appearance properties for more color options (if you don’t see the option, that means Aero is already turned off). Select Windows Vista Basic and click OK.

3. Assorted Interface “Beautification” Options
You can save some additional clock cycles by turning off all or some of Vista’s pretty interface options, not all of which are directly connected to Aero.

To see the options, click Start, right-click Computer, and select Properties. Click the Advanced System Properties link, the Advanced tab, and then the Settings button inside the Performance box.

You can uncheck all of the listed options by selecting Adjust for best performance, or you can simply uncheck the ones you don’t care for. I unchecked Fade or slide menus into view, Fade or slide ToolTips into view, Show shadows under menus, and Slide open combo boxes. The rest I left on.

4. Remote Assistance
Don’t worry about turning this item off if you run Vista Home (Basic or Premium). You don’t have it. If you run Vista Business or Ultimate, though, you can use Remote Assistance to control one PC from another–a useful tool if you regularly provide tech support for a relative living far away.

On the other hand, if you’re not providing long-distance support, or if you prefer a third-party remote-control program, Remote Assistance is just a waste of resources. To get rid of it, click Start, right-click Computer, and select Properties. Click Remote Settings. Uncheck Allow Remote Assistance connections to this computer.

5. Internet Printing Client
Do you ever print documents over the Internet? Neither do I. Chances are, you won’t miss out on anything by disabling Vista’s Internet Printing Client.

Open the “Programs and Features” control panel and click the Turn Windows features on or off link on the left; you’ll get the Windows Features dialog box. Expand the Print Services section and uncheck Internet Printing Client.

Click OK at this point, and then wait for the system to ask to reboot.

6. Windows Meeting Space
I like Windows’ built-in peer-to-peer collaboration program, Meeting Space, which lets you share files across a network while editing them with a remote colleague. But I don’t have any use for it in my daily life, and neither do most of the people I know.

So I shut Windows Meeting Space off. You can, too. Simply uncheck Windows Meeting Space while you’re in the Windows Features dialog box, as explained in 5th feature.

7. Windows Ultimate Extras
One of the best things you can do exclusively in Vista Ultimate Edition is turn off the really pointless features that are found exclusively in Vista Ultimate Edition. I refer, of course, to Ultimate Extras, a set of downloadable add-ons available only to Ultimate users.

If you do own Ultimate, go to Windows Update (Start, All Programs, Windows Update), click View available updates, and check out all the worthless stuff Microsoft has made available exclusively to people who paid through the nose for the most bloated version of Vista.

You can turn Windows Ultimate Extras off in the Windows Features control panel by clicking Turn Windows features on or off to open the Windows Features dialog box, and then unchecking Windows Ultimate Extras.

8. Tablet PC Stuff
I own a tablet PC, and I love Vista’s tablet-oriented features — especially the Input Panel for writing with the stylus. But if you don’t have a tablet, these features are useless to you.

Turning off Vista’s tablet features is a two-step process: Start in the Windows Features dialog box. Once there, simply uncheck Tablet PC Optional Components.

or

You can disable the this from the Services window, which you open by clicking Start, typing services, and pressing Enter. Find and double-click Tablet PC Input Services. In the “Startup type” drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.

9. ReadyBoost
If you’re not using this much-hyped Vista feature–which supposedly speeds up Vista by caching memory to a flash drive — it’s actually slowing your system down a tiny bit. (And if you are using ReadyBoost, it’s probably still
a drag on your PC.

But if you still use it. Then it’s upto you to disable or not.

You turn off ReadyBoost in Services. If you aren’t already there, click Start, type services, and press Enter. Find and double-click ReadyBoost. In the “Startup type” drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.

10. Search Indexing
This one is a real trade-off. Turning off Vista’s indexing will slow searches to a crawl — I’m talking minutes, not seconds. But ditching this convenient feature could very likely speed up your general PC use significantly.

In other words, turning off indexing will help your PC’s performance only if you seldom search by file content, or if you use a third-party search tool such as Google Desktop (in which case you probably have two indexing routines running at the same time, which is an even bigger waste).

To turn off indexing clicking Start, typing services, and pressing Enter. Find and double-click Windows Search. In the “Startup type” drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.

11. Offline Files
If you work on files stored on a server somewhere, and you can’t depend on that server always being available, Vista Business and Ultimate’s Offline Files feature makes your life easier by copying the files to your hard drive and keeping them synced.

Of course, that sort of thing isn’t for everybody, which is probably why Microsoft didn’t include Offline Files in the Home editions of Vista. But if you have Business or Ultimate and still don’t need Offline Files.

Turn it off by clicking Start, typing services, and pressing Enter. Find and double-click Offline Files. In the “Startup type” drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.

12. Windows Error Reporting Service
Every time Windows experiences an error — either with its own processes or with a third-party program — it offers to report the problem to Microsoft. In theory, doing so can help the company locate problems with its OS (and heaven knows that would be a good thing). But more than likely, your report will either go unresolved or just end up in a big pile of other people’s reports on the same problem. Either way, you’re wasting your system’s precious resources on a feature that isn’t doing you any good.

To disable this unhelpful service, open the Services window: Click Start, type services, and press Enter. Find and double-click Windows Error Reporting Service. In the “Startup type” drop-down menu, select Disabled, and then click OK.

12. UAC: (User Account Control)
One of Windows Vista’s most controversial new features is User Account Control (UAC), which attempts to protect your system from malware by forcing you to authorize certain system-altering actions by clicking through a dialog box from time to time. To some people, this feature is an unwanted annoyance that must be eliminated. Other users appreciate this added security.

If you would like to turn off UAC, then navigate to:

1. Control Panel -> User Accounts ->
2. Turn User Account Control On or Off.
3. Now decide if you want to untick the box which say: ‘Use User Account Control (UAC) to help protect your computer’.
4. Now you have disabled the User Account Control.

But I’ll still remind if you want this extra security feature of Clicking “Continue” every time you perform an administrative task, you can leave this enabled.