Enable/Disable a network adapter with a keyboard shortcut

Question

I started out trying to use a shortcut to display the Local Area Connection Status window on my desktop by creating a shortcut and assigning it Ctrl+, (comma).

Windows didn't like that, so it added Alt, which ended up being Ctrl+Alt++,.

Since I couldn't figure out a way to eliminate Alt as part of the shortcut keys, I am now trying a different strategy and it's not working. My latest attempt is to use AutoHotkey with the following command:

^,::Run, explorer ::{BA126ADB-2166-11D1-B1D0-00805FC1270E}

Which is what the shortcut target number is, but it won't open the window.

Answer 1

I am going to list the manual steps necessary to quickly enable or disable a network adapter. Then, I will translate these steps into AutoHotkey.

---

By hand:

1. Open Network Connections from the command line.

   explorer ::{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}
   

   

2. Once the window is active, press Space to set the focus to the list of adapters.

   

3. If the adapter you want to enable/disable is currently selected (i.e. the 1st` on the list), skip to Step #5.

4. If the adapter is not selected, press Right until it is selected. For example press Right 1 time if the adapter is 2nd on the list, 2 times if it is 3rd, etc.

   

5. Right-click the adapter and press Down to highlight the Enable or Disable option.

   

   

6. Press Enter to Enable or Disable.

7. Close Network Connections.

---

Autohotkey:

Using the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+,

^,::

   ;1.
   Run, explorer ::{7007ACC7-3202-11D1-AAD2-00805FC1270E}

   ;2.
   WinWaitActive, Network Connections
   Send, {Space}

   ;3. & 4.
   ;If the adapter is not the 1st, navigate to it.
   ;For example, without the comment (semi-colon):
   ;    Send, {Right 1}
   ;if it is the 2nd adapter.
   ;    Send, {Right 2}
   ;if it is the 3rd, etc.

   ;5.
   Send, {AppsKey}
   Sleep, 250 ;adjust as needed
   Send, {Down}

   ;6.
   Send, {Enter}

   ;7.
   WinClose, Network Connections

   return

Answer 2

Just go to the screen where the adapter icon is located. Right click and create shortcut (it won't allow to add shortcut to that window but it will allow it to be created in desktop). When you want to enable or disable the adapter just right click the icon on your desktop and click enable or disable.

Answer 3

If you want an easy way to enable or disable your NIC (or other device for that matter), that bypasses the Control Panel, Device Manager, and other windows altogether, you can do so with a a batch file:

1. Get a copy of Microsoft’s DevCon utility

2. Create and save the following batch file (e.g., as ToggleNIC.bat)

   @echo off
   if (%1)==(+) goto enable
   if (%1)==(-) goto disable
   goto :eof
   
   :: Replace the device ID ("VEN_1234&DEV_5678" in the example) with that of your own NIC.
   :: You can find it with the command "devcon find PCI*", looking for the name of your NIC.
   
   :: When you locate your device ID, enter only up to the "DEV"; that should be enough to uniquely identify the device.
   :: Leave the "SUBSYS" and later parts of the string off, otherwise it may not work.
   
   :enable
       devcon enable  "PCI\VEN_1234&DEV_5678"
       goto :eof
   
   :disable
       devcon disable "PCI\VEN_1234&DEV_5678"
       goto :eof

3. Create two shortcuts to the batch file (e.g., EnableNIC.lnk and DisableNIC.lnk), in one specifying the Target field as C:\…\ToggleNIC.bat + and for the other, C:\…\ToggleNIC.bat - (of course replace the … with the path to the batch file)

4. Set a hotkey in the Properties dialog for each shortcut—Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Num+ and Ctrl+Alt+Shift+Num- seem like good, logical ones.

   • (There’s a reason Explorer tries to prevent simple shortcuts of the form Ctrl+Key, Alt+Key, and Shift+Key; because those are normally used in programs for everyday tasks, so using them as shell hotkeys would cause no end of trouble. But, if you really need one without Alt, you can manually hack the .lnk file or easier, just use a macro/hotkey program to create a task to run the batch files with whatever hotkey you like.)
     
     
5. Alternately, you could put the batch file somewhere in your PATH, then you can simply toggle the NIC via the Start menu or Run dialog; e.g. Win+R, togglenic +

You can also make it so that the batch file literally toggles the NIC (enable it if it is currently disabled, or disable it if it is currently enabled), but that will be a little more involved and probably not necessary in general.