If you’re using Vista, you can disable the Windows Sidebar by going to the Control Panel and clicking on the “Sidebar” tab. There you’ll find a list of all the programs that have access to the Sidebar, as well as a list of all the folders that contain sidebars. You can disable any program by clicking on it and then selecting “Disable.”
To disable the sidebar, right click on the sidebar or sidebar icon, and choose properties:
Uncheck the “Start Sidebar when Windows starts” checkbox:
Then right-click on the icon, and choose Exit to close the sidebar:
Your sidebar should now be gone, and won’t start back up with Windows anymore.
