Internet On Off Software Switch

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[Lars220]

I recently found a useful tool to help me control Windows Updates, it is a software program to easily connect and disconnect the internet. The program named InternetOff is freeware, and a quote from website: “InternetOff is a free tool that allows you to quickly turn off on your internet connection from the system tray” (Notification area near clock).
I have been using this program for a few weeks and it works great for me to use in conjunction with David Xanatos WuMgr progam to control Windows Updates and hide the updates that I do not want. I disconnect from internet, and then do what should only be done under very carefully controlled instances, I go to Settings, Windows Update, and  I click “Check for updates”  (Horrors, duck, run, cower, scream?) and I get an Error encountered message because I am not connected to internet. This gives me some time to now connect to internet and immediately use WuMgr to check for updates and Hide unwanted updates.
The Windows Club website has a nice informative review of this program:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/internetoff-turn-internet-on-off-windows
and the download website says it works for Windows 10/8/7/Vista/XP, 32/64 bit. I am not sure about Windows 11, maybe someone can check.
The download is 1.9 MB and after installed it takes up 5.37 MB in my
Program Files (x86) folder, on my 64 bit Win 10 Pro Desktop Computer.
https://crystalrich.com/internetoff/
For AskWoody members logged in, please review my attached pdf file to see and review some InternetOff Screenshots if interested. I think this is a handy good Tool to have.

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• This topic was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Lars220.
• This topic was modified 2 years, 8 months ago by Lars220.

3 users thanked author for this post.

Bob99, DrBonzo, Charlie

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The “instant” on/off functionality with regards to your network connection without having to reach around the back of one’s desktop computer and physically unplug the Cat 5/5e, 6, or 7 cable from the RJ45 port is something I sorely miss. This feature used to be one of my favorites from my days of using Zone Alarm before MS upped their game with respect to a firewall.

I used Zone Alarm with XP and Vista, but stopped once I got to Windows 7 because by that time MS had stepped up their game with the Windows 7 firewall.

GREAT to see that someone has come up with a way to have that feature without having to install a separate firewall program!

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You don’t need a tool to do that.
In a Admin command prompt enter
netsh interface show interface
Note the Interface Name for your connected network

In a Notepad document place the following command

netsh interface set interface “Interface Name” enable

Replace Interface Name with your interface name

Save with the name WiFiOn.bat

Create another Notepad document with the same command except replace disable for the enable.

Save with the name WiFiOff.bat

Right click the bat file and run with admin privileges. If desired I can show how to with one click this on/off- admin privileges and all.

HTH, Dana:))

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I think the same thing can be accomplished in the GUI by going to Control Panel>Network and Internet>Network and Sharing Center, and then clicking on the icon the the type of connection Windows is currently using. That will bring up a dialog box showing the connection’s current ststus, as well as three buttons towards the bottom of the box, labeled “Properties”, “Disable” and “Diagnose”. Clicking the “Disable” button should have the same effect as the netsh command line method.

Although I’ve never done so, I would think that clicking the “Disable” button will then change that same button to now say “Enable”.

However, as with the command line entries, the “Disable” (and probably the subsequently-labeled “Enable”) buttons both have a shield icon on them, indicating that Administrator access is required to perform those actions.

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Bob99 wrote:

Although I’ve never done so, I would think that clicking the “Disable” button will then change that same button to now say “Enable”.

That is correct – an easy way to disable/enable you Ethernet card.

You can also do the same with the WiFi card to ensure that it doesn’t automatically reconnect when you restart/turn on the computer.

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Hey Y’all,

5.9 Mb seems a bit excessive for the functionality.

Here’s a little powershell script that will toggle the status on/off.

#Program name: Set-InternetOnOff.ps1

$MyAdapter = "Computer Mentor Wired"

$Status = (Get-NetAdapter -Name "$MyAdapter").Status

If ($Status -eq "Up") {
  Disable-NetAdapter -Name "$MyAdapter" -Confirm:$False
}
Else {
  Enable-NetAdapter -Name "$MyAdapter"
}

Simply change the $MyAdapter value to match your machine’s connection.

To find the proper value enter the following command in a PowerShell window.

PS> Get-NetAdapter

Name                      InterfaceDescription                    ifIndex Statu
                                                                          s    
----                      --------------------                    ------- -----
Computer Mentor Wired     Qualcomm Atheros AR8171/8175 PCI-E G...      19 Up   
Computer Mentor Wi-Fi     Intel(R) Dual Band Wireless-AC 3165          15 Di...
Npcap Loopback Adapter    Npcap Loopback Adapter                       14 No...
Bluetooth Network Con...3 Bluetooth Device (Personal Area Ne...#3       6 Di...

You can see all your connections and pick the proper one.

You can also find the information in the Network and Sharing Center:

Use the value highlighted in yellow!

For ease of use create a Scheduled task to run as administrator. Then create a shortcut to the scheduled task and place on your task bar. A quick double click and you change the current setting On/Off.

HTH

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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…

5.9 Mb seems a bit excessive for the functionality.

Here’s a little powershell script that will toggle the status on/off.

Yeah, but @wsdrcard ( “Drcard:))” ) has you beat with the batch file that’s a mere 51 or 52 bytes in length with the same functionality! 

No matter which alternative method (Dana’s very petite batch files, my use of Windows’ GUI, or RG’s compact Powershell script right above) to the original program is used, they ALL depend on the same thing to work…having or getting Administrator level privileges.

I’ve looked at the site for the original program and the images for the program itself, and I can’t find ANY mention of needing to have Administrator-level credentials to make the thing work.

SO, that begs the question for @Lars220 : When you run the program, does it prompt you for Administrator credentials in order for it to run? If not, did it prompt you for them during installation?

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This is how to make it a one click for on and one click for off with admin privileges.
You now have two bat files WiFiOn.bat and WiFiOff.bat from my post above.
Open Task Scheduler and create a task which opens WiFiOn.bat file. Task Scheduler has a setting to give the task pre-authorized authority to run with highest privileges. This task will have no schedule and is on demand only. Running this task runs the WiFiOn.bat file with admin privileges and no popup box to authorize. Let’s say we name the task WiFiOn
Now we make a shortcut on the desktop with the location as

C:\Windows\System32\schtasks.exe /run /tn “WiFiOn”

Name the shortcut WiFiON (you can even find a green light icon for it)
Clicking this shortcut goes directly to run the WiFiOn task in the Task Scheduler which runs the WiFiOn.bat file and turns the Internet on. Thus One click of the shortcut for On.

Repeat the process for the WiFiOff.bat.

Also you can even create a keyboard shortcut for these shortcuts and turn this into no clicks.

This is a neat trick to run anything with admin privileges without the UAC box. I have a Admin Command prompt setup this way and opening it is just a keyboard shortcut whenever I need.

Please ask if you have any questions.

HTH, Dana:))

1 user thanked author for this post.

windbg

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See https://www.askwoody.com/forums/topic/create-desktop-switch-for-internet-connection/
for more detailed instructions on how to create these On/Off Desktop switches.

HTH, Dana:))

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This may be relevant to the command line in the BAT file.

Looking at the command arguments in the usage help (see below), the last element is either enabled (not enable) or disabled (not disable).

f:\>netsh interface set interface /?

Usage set interface [name = ] IfName
[ [admin = ] ENABLED|DISABLED
[connect = ] CONNECTED|DISCONNECTED
[newname = ] NewName ]

Sets interface parameters.

IfName – the name of the interface
admin – whether the interface should be enabled
connect – whether to connect the interface (non-LAN only).
newname – new name for the interface (LAN only).

Notes:
– At least one option other than the name must be specified.
– If connect = CONNECTED is specified, then the interface
is automatically enabled even if the admin = DISABLED
option is specified.

Examples:

set interface name=”Wired Ethernet Connection” admin=DISABLED

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b

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JC Zorkoff wrote:

This may be relevant to the command line in the BAT file.

Looking at the command arguments in the usage help (see below), the last element is either enabled (not enable) or disabled (not disable).

Very interesting. It seems that both enable and enabled and disable and disabled work.

Must be some hold over commands in the command dictionary. When I started using this method with XP it was just enable and disable.

HTH, Dana:))

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While an app can sever the tie between a computer and the Internet once a computer is up and running, we’ve opted for physical Ethernet on off switches for our PCs.

What we found was that an undetermined number of applications were calling home during  the computer boot process and prior to the time that a computer-based Internet off switch application could be activated.

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Kathy Stevens wrote:

an undetermined number of applications were calling home during  the computer boot process and prior to the time that a computer-based Internet off switch application could be activated.

Just for information, the InternetOff program can be used to disconnect from internet before shutting down the computer, and it retains that status when the computer is restarted / booted up so that nothing communicates with the internet until the nice little GUI icon in Notification Area (System Tray) is clicked once to bring up the status note window, with next needed option to click “Turn on the internet” and only then can things (unknown things?) be able to talk to internet. I shared this neat freeware program thinking that Home Non Professional and Non Programmer types might find this an easy to use convenient tool for diabling the internet quickly. Business users and Professionals will probably want to use physical hardware on off switches like Kathy Stevens recommends. I thought that including some screenshots might help others understand the InternetOff features, and possibly appreciate the Graphical User Interface that is point and click easy to use. I always disconnect internet before I shut down my home desktop computer, and I used to pull the ethernet cable out of router, but now I just click the Earth icon to Turn off the internet. It is just a normal simple program, no special Admin rights need to be granted. Try it, and if you don’t like it, use Revo Uninstaller or Geek Uninstaller to completely uninstall and remove the leftovers. Also, 5.37 MB of space on my 1 TB SSD in not a concern for me. I think it is a good tool to have if you like simple GUI programs. YMMV.

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