Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Computing/2020 March 22

= March 22 =

Airplane Mode - Turning Off
On my desktop computer, I seem to have gotten airplane mode turned on, and I can't find an obvious way to turn it off, and so turn the computer back onto wireless communication with the Internet. Is there some straightforward way from the Settings (formerly Control Panel) to turn Airplane Mode off and therefore turn wireless communication on? I could try restarting the machine, but would prefer not to do that unless it is necessary.

In case someone asks how I am posting this question, I am using my laptop computer, and it isn't in airplane mode, but I can't find a way on it to see how to switch back and forth.

Robert McClenon (talk) 17:52, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * I swapped the power strip for another power strip, which obviously provided a cold restart, and it came up in regular mode rather than airplane mode. I would appreciate any advice on a less extreme way to do this in the future.  Robert McClenon (talk) 19:07, 22 March 2020 (UTC)


 * Control Panel | Network and Internet settings | Flight mode should give you a switch for this.
 * You can get there from the Start menu and control panel, or by right-clicking on the Wifi icon on the taskbar (which might be an aircraft icon at the time). Andy Dingley (talk) 19:18, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * It's bizarre (to me) that a desktop would have an airplane mode. They're more portable than they once were, but still. You wouldn't take it on a flight, surely? ——  SN  54129  19:28, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * user:Serial Number 54129 Does the computer and Windows 10 know it's a desktop and too big to pack? McClenon mobile (talk) 19:48, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * If it's an OEM Windows, I'd expect it to. For one thing, there's no need to manage batteries. But smaller volume machines may use a standard Windows build (which has to offer every feature, even if never used), rather than one tailored to the hardware. It might know that there just aren't any batteries, and thus it shouldn't offer battery management, but a Wifi adapter is a Wifi adapter and it can't tell where you might carry it. Andy Dingley (talk) 20:10, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Right, there is no functionality for an operating system to "ask" the hardware, "Are you a desktop or a laptop?" Microsoft presumably doesn't want Windows to "guess" based on potentially unreliable cues like whether it detects a battery. Computer manufacturers could in principle modify their Windows builds to blacklist the Airplane Mode feature based on serial number or something else, but they probably figure it's not worth the hassle, especially since it could then lead to people wanting the feature not being able to use it. --47.146.63.87 (talk) 01:20, 23 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Actually an interesting point is that since Windows Vista if not before, Windows does actually have an ability at some level to decide you are a laptop. For example, Windows Mobility Center will not normally be available if not a laptop [//www.tenforums.com/tutorials/92301-enable-disable-windows-mobility-center-windows-10-a.html]. Although about the battery point, it's actually perfectly plausible for a desktop to have a battery. Many uninterruptible power supplies intended for desktop computers work that way. At some level Windows probably knows it's a UPS but I believe it will still often be enough to enable mblctr [//superuser.com/questions/1283879/why-is-windows-reporting-a-battery-charge-with-my-desktop]. As to why they didn't do the same thing for flight mode, it could be they felt they didn't want to do such things for what is part of the system settings of the new Windows 8/10 interface, although flight mode only exists if it can do something. If you have no wireless devices, there's no flight mode. It could be they felt anyone with such wireless communication devices may want to be able to disable them even if the device didn't move. It could be they just didn't think it's something worth worrying about. Nil Einne (talk) 01:48, 24 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Probably just part of the usual Win10 cheap Procrustean design. 89.172.17.213 (talk) 05:41, 24 March 2020 (UTC)
 * Right, I meant more specifically, there's nothing in, say, ACPI for hardware to say, "I am a laptop" or, "I am a desktop". The Mobility Center stuff is an example of "guessing"; presumably the Windows designers felt in that case it was justified, while for Airplane Mode they'd go ahead and show it as long as a wireless interface was present. Similarly, they presumably thought people would want to see the battery level easily even for a desktop with UPS. --47.146.63.87 (talk) 05:17, 25 March 2020 (UTC)
 * My regular desktop is a laptop. That's commonplace these days. Andy Dingley (talk) 20:08, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * It does not have to be a plane or a hospital. With a bit of effort I can imagine a desktop computer installed in a lab, where there are sensitive electronic measuring devices. In such environment the computer could be attached to a cable network and banned  (permanently or periodically) from any radio communication. Then a 'plane mode' would be exactly what is needed. --CiaPan (talk) 20:31, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * In such a case can't you simply deconfigure the interface (assuming Windows has that capability) or else physically remove the wifi card? Martin of Sheffield (talk) 20:42, 22 March 2020 (UTC)
 * At every lab I have ever worked, lab computers were in "permanent plane mode" (I assume networking drivers had been uninstalled). The reason has nothing to do with electronic device perturbations (I assume some small fraction of researchers in nanoconductors etc. do have that problem, but for the hoi polloi it is not the case; there are much bigger threats, such as neon lamps). The reason is plain old computer security. Lab computers are running weird software that you cannot audit cheaply or at all (science-y device drivers or special data analysis software); users need admin priviledges to install those (unless you want to pay someone full-time to just green-light every installation and piss everyone off with your bureaucracy: again, you cannot audit the software's security); the computer is often stuck with an obsolete OS (Windows XP seems common) for compatibility reasons; and users will take data in and out via USB (even if you gave network access, nobody will bother uploading the data to a dedicated FTP server; copy-paste from USB is simply faster). Tigraan Click here to contact me 17:53, 23 March 2020 (UTC)
 * In case there is some confusion AFAIK, flight mode does not disable all networking on Windows. It only disables wireless communication. This includes WiFi, mobile ("cellular") but also Bluetooth which is often used for things which aren't called networking, NFC which is often used for things which aren't called networking and any form of GNSS (e.g. the US GPS) which isn't generally called networking. If you have wired ethernet it will not be affected AFAIK. See e.g. [//support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4027421/windows-turn-airplane-mode-on-or-off] or my comment above Nil Einne (talk) 01:48, 24 March 2020 (UTC)
 * You can also access it quickly on Windows 10 from the Action Center. Hit "Expand" to open the full quick settings if necessary. This is patterned after the Quick Settings on Android and Control Center on iOS. --47.146.63.87 (talk) 01:20, 23 March 2020 (UTC)


 * I am a complete cretin. Apologies, everyone: of course, it doesn't mean just what I thought it did! (D'oh!) ——  SN  54129  22:15, 22 March 2020 (UTC)