Sony Vaio Sidebar Fix

Is this a familar message?

Windows Sidebar is managed by your system administrator.I recently bought a new Sony Vaio laptop from Currys. It has taken me the best part of 6 months to decide on what I was looking for and ended up choosing the VGN-NR11S/S model with the only difference between this model and the standard (VGN-NR11S) being increased hard disk space and more RAM.

I have been trying to use the Vista Sidebar option however I was receiving a message stating that I had to be an administrator to make any changes. Bearing in mind I was signed in as an Administrator it seemed frustrating but accepted the pre-installed Google Desktop sidebar instead.

When I clicked on the “Why can’t I change these settings?” link Windows help opened a window then crashed….

I have since found out that Sony intentionally and deliberately disabled the Vista sidebar to make users use the Google Desktop sidebar or not use one at all! I find it appalling that Sony use sneaky tricks to make money from Google by forcing users without technical expertise to use the Google Desktop.

Fortunately there is a solution!

You can change a registry value which stops the Vista sidebar working, which requires no restart and means users can have the choice as to whether or not they choose to use a sidebar and if they do which one they want.

To re-enable the disabled sidebar:

  • Sign into Windows Vista as an Administrator.
  • Once signed into Vista, click start then type “regedit” and click the program at the top.
  • This will load the Registry Editor. You need to find the setting:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Windows\Sidebar

  • Once here there is a value called “TurnOffSidebar” which (if disabled) will have a value of “1″.
  • Change this value to “0″ and close and your Windows Vista Sidebar will now work.
  • Load the Sidebar by clicking Start then typing “Sidebar” and open the program.
  • Customise the Sidebar to your requirements and you’re all set.

I hope this guide is helpful and straightforward and will benefit you if you find that you have recently bought a Sony Vaio computer and can’t use the sidebar. It took me a few weeks to work out what the problem was and a little time searching the registry. If you did find it useful please let me know.