Disable desktop gadgets via group policy

Microsoft no longer supports desktop gadgets and even recommends disabling them. In Active Directory domain gadgets can be easily disabled via group policy.

• Open Group Policy Management Editor
• Navigate to Computer Configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Desktop Gadgets
• Enable Turn off desktop gadgets policy
• Save changes and deploy policy to your clients

If a user now tries to enable desktop gadgets he will get following message:

Windows 7