Most Vista users tend not to notice the sidebar that lurks on their desktop 24/7, but this is a huge mistake. For the sake of a few ‘Gadgets’, the Sidebar uses way too much system memory. Just like User Account Control, the Sidebar is yet another pointless and power hogging application thrown into Vista.

To disable the Sidebar:

1. Right click on the Sidebar and select Properties

2. Uncheck the “Start Sidebar when Windows starts” box

3. Click Ok and Restart

You may also be interested in our article on Disabling Vista’s User Account Control