Fix the Vista/7/Origami Experience Weather Gadget/Tile in 2023

[xyz]

The Windows Live/MSN APIs to update the Gadget information were shut down a while ago, but there's a workaround to get the Gadget working again:


Sidebar Gadget fix:
Download CONFIG.XML und SETTINGS.INI (latter one is just provided as an example)
https://web.archive.org/web/20230509140 ... x-2023.rar

1) Change PC time to one year+ from today
2) Open CONFIG.XML, add a space character at the beginning of the file, save, remove the space character, save again (its important to have this file with a "last changed" date in the future, at minimum same-day, otherwise the Sidebar will attempt to download a new "daily" config which fails)
3) Copy CONFIG.XML to %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Live\Services\Cache
4) Change PC time back to today
5) Open %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows Sidebar\settings.ini
5.1) Search for:

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	WeatherLocation="CITY,COUNTRY"
	WeatherLocationCode="wc:AUXX0025"

5.2) Change location to "Berlin, Germany" (this will be displayed in the Gadget later on)
5.3) LocationCode can be found on sites such as https://weather.codes, Berlin's code is "GMXX0007"
5.3.1) After altering the values, it should look like this:

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	WeatherLocation="Berlin,Deutschland"
	WeatherLocationCode="wc:GMXX0007"

6) Save
7) Start the Sidebar, the Gadget should now receive current weather data from Forcea



Origami Experience 2.0 Tile Fix:
Haven't found one yet. Weather data is similarly configured in %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\NowScreen\2.0.0.0\user.config file

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        <Microsoft.Now.Tiles.WeatherTileSettings.0d551fa4-5a98-4bfa-b0ee-b2be1581e4fa>
            <setting name="WeatherMeter">
                <value _locID="WeatherTile_Meter_FOrC">C</value>
            </setting>
            <setting name="Location">
                <value _locID="WeatherTile_Location">Wien</value>
            </setting>
            <setting name="WeatherId">
                <value _locID="WeatherTile_LocationId">wc:AUXX0025</value>
            </setting>
        </Microsoft.Now.Tiles.WeatherTileSettings.0d551fa4-5a98-4bfa-b0ee-b2be1581e4fa>

but it seems theres some other issue that prevents it from receiving the weather data, maybe some sort of daily CONFIG.XML file too.
Any ideas, guys?

[xyz]

On an older 2020 installation, where the APIs were still up an running, I see outdated weather data in Orgami Experience 2.0.
Unlike my fresh installation, there is an additional file in
%userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\NowScreen\2.0.0.0\
called
NowScreen-0d551fa4-5a98-4bfa-b0ee-b2be1581e4fa.dat (copy: https://www.retrospace.net/u/files/nows ... 81e4fa.dat)
After placing it in %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\NowScreen\2.0.0.0\ I also see the same outdated weather data on the new installation (my user.config is set to Vienna on both). Hm obviousely it is only the data received once from MSN.

The file contains some special characters at the very beginning, I assume changing it requires an Hex Editor and it also uses lat- and longitude.

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xcÐoÙ<weatherdata xmlns:xsd="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">
	<weather weatherlocationcode="wc:AUXX0025" weatherlocationname="Wien" zipcode="1010" url="http://a.msn.com/54/de-AT/ct48.211,16.369?ctsrc=UMPC" imagerelativeurl="http://blob.weather.microsoft.com/static/weather4/de/" degreetype="C" provider="Foreca" attribution="http://www.foreca.com/" attribution2="Foreca" lat="48,211" long="16,369" timezone="2" alert="" entityid="35143" encodedlocationname="Seitzergasse+5A%2C+1010+Wien%2C+%C3%96sterreich">
		<current temperature="6" skycode="27" skytext="Meist bewölkt" date="2023-04-15" observationtime="21:05:49" observationpoint="Seitzergasse 5A, 1010 Wien, Österreich" feelslike="4" humidity="89" winddisplay="8 km/h West" day="Samstag" shortday="Sa." windspeed="8 km/h"/>
		<forecast low="5" high="8" skycodeday="11" skytextday="Regenschauer" date="2023-04-15" day="Samstag" shortday="Sa." precip="87"/>
		<forecast low="7" high="12" skycodeday="26" skytextday="Bewölkt" date="2023-04-16" day="Sonntag" shortday="So." precip="15"/>
		<forecast low="10" high="14" skycodeday="11" skytextday="Regenschauer" date="2023-04-17" day="Montag" shortday="Mo." precip="60"/>
		<forecast low="9" high="16" skycodeday="9" skytextday="Leichter Regen" date="2023-04-18" day="Dienstag" shortday="Di." precip="49"/>
		<forecast low="6" high="13" skycodeday="11" skytextday="Regen" date="2023-04-19" day="Mittwoch" shortday="Mi." precip="54"/>
		<toolbar timewindow="60" minversion="1.0.1965.0"/>
	</weather>
</weatherdata>

[xyz]

I figured out that the Origami Gadget calls URL

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http://weather.partners.msn.com/data.aspx?outputview=forecast&wealocations=wc:AUXX0025&src=UMPC&weadegreetype=C&culture=de-AT

which throws an error:

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Server Error in '/' Application.
Could not find config setting: AppexFacade.ImagesBaseUrl
Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information about the error and where it originated in the code.

Exception Details: System.Configuration.ConfigurationErrorsException: Could not find config setting: AppexFacade.ImagesBaseUrl

Source Error:

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Stack Trace:


[ConfigurationErrorsException: Could not find config setting: AppexFacade.ImagesBaseUrl]
   Microsoft.Weather.WebService.ConfigurationSettings.ReadConfigValue(String key, Boolean throwErrorIfNotFound) in D:\a\1\s\src\Service\Microsoft.Weather.CacheWebService\App_Start\ConfigurationSettings.cs:320
   Microsoft.Weather.WebService.ConfigurationSettings.LoadConfiguration() in D:\a\1\s\src\Service\Microsoft.Weather.CacheWebService\App_Start\ConfigurationSettings.cs:250
   Microsoft.Weather.WebService.ConfigurationSettings.Load() in D:\a\1\s\src\Service\Microsoft.Weather.CacheWebService\App_Start\ConfigurationSettings.cs:198
   Microsoft.Weather.WebService.Global.Initialize(String dataDirectory, Func`2 getSetting) in D:\a\1\s\src\Service\Microsoft.Weather.CacheWebService\Global.asax.cs:64
   Microsoft.Weather.WebService.Global.Application_Start(Object sender, EventArgs e) in D:\a\1\s\src\Service\Microsoft.Weather.CacheWebService\Global.asax.cs:88

[HttpException (0x80004005): Could not find config setting: AppexFacade.ImagesBaseUrl]
   System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.EnsureAppStartCalledForIntegratedMode(HttpContext context, HttpApplication app) +520
   System.Web.HttpApplication.RegisterEventSubscriptionsWithIIS(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context, MethodInfo[] handlers) +176
   System.Web.HttpApplication.InitSpecial(HttpApplicationState state, MethodInfo[] handlers, IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context) +165
   System.Web.HttpApplicationFactory.GetSpecialApplicationInstance(IntPtr appContext, HttpContext context) +267
   System.Web.Hosting.PipelineRuntime.InitializeApplication(IntPtr appContext) +341

[HttpException (0x80004005): Could not find config setting: AppexFacade.ImagesBaseUrl]
   System.Web.HttpRuntime.FirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +523
   System.Web.HttpRuntime.EnsureFirstRequestInit(HttpContext context) +107
   System.Web.HttpRuntime.ProcessRequestNotificationPrivate(IIS7WorkerRequest wr, HttpContext context) +688


Version Information: Microsoft .NET Framework Version:4.0.30319; ASP.NET Version:4.7.3930.0 

The URL of the Sidebar Gadget is different:

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http://weather.service.msn.com/data.aspx?src=vista&wealocations=FR:DE_Berlin&weadegreetype=C&culture=de-DE

[xyz]

Okay, since a few days, both Sidebar and Origami again receive weather updates, the URLS were fixed. Obvious that no Origami fix as such is required.