Flight mode (Airplane mode) toggle is "on" but greyed out

engellion

New Member
Messages
4
Hi I have Windows 8.1 installed on a Surface Pro 3.

Six days ago the Flight mode toggle under "Change PC Settings - Network - Flight mode" was working fine. I could toggle flight mode on or off.


Right now, however, Flight mode is toggled to "on" but greyed out. The strange thing is that WiFi is enabled and working. I CAN connect to WiFi networks no problem.

Capture Airplane Flight mode greyed_out (2).PNG


I want to be able to toggle flight mode the next time I take a flight. But with the switched greyed out, I can't access this feature.

I've tried disabling and enabling the network adapter, updating to the latest WiFi and Blue Tooth drivers, but still no change.

BTW, This is the only place I can see a Flight mode toggle. There is no Flight mode (Airplane mode) listed under the Networks side bar accessed from the WiFi network charm.

Capture Airplane Flight mode - missing.png


Any suggestions?

Thanks.PaulC

Surface Pro 3
Core i5
256 GB
8 GB Ram
Windows 8.1 Update Pro
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    Tablet
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    Core i5
    Memory
    8GB
I have the same problem but in a laptop, did you solve it?

No, I never found a solution. MS Support on their forums were no help. So I ended up doing a PC Refresh. That fixed it.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    Tablet
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    Core i5
    Memory
    8GB
I have the same problem but in a laptop, did you solve it?

No, I never found a solution. MS Support on their forums were no help. So I ended up doing a PC Refresh. That fixed it.

Still no any suggetions without refreshing?u didnt do a complete refresh ryt?

No. I spent half an hour with MS Support on the issue a couple of months ago. They could not resolve it, but recognised that there was a problem.


Since then, I ended up doing a refresh last week. So far, short of a fix from MS, PC Refresh is the least destructive way of dealing with this problem at the moment. My own user created files are not deleted, just my installed programs, including anything in the "C:\Program Data" folder. If your programs are storing user created data there, make sure you back up that data before a PC Refresh. Your Documents, Pictures, Music etc. will not be deleted.

After the PC Refresh, my Surface Pro 3 began downloading Windows Updates. I set the Windows Updates to Download, but not automatically Install. This way I could check at what point the Flight Mode toggle stops working.

I installed all updates until the Cumulative Update 3000850. This update includes all updates from April 2014 to November 2014. At first this update would not download. Eventually it did. I then installed Corel Draw 13, which detrimentally changes Permissions on the HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT. (That is another problem that can be fixed by adding back the Permissions settings that were deleted.) But at some point after this, Flight Mode stopped working. I do not know if it is related.

I performed another PC Refresh, allowed all updates to install, including 3000850. Once they were all installed up to 11:00pm 15 March, 2015 (UTS +10.00), and I confirmed that Flight Mode was still working, I created a System Restore point "Flight Mode Working latest updates to 20150315".

I then reinstalled Corel Draw 2013, fixed the Permissions for HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT, did a Restart and confirmed Flight Mode was still working. I created another System Restore Point.

At least now, if Flight Mode stops working, I can simply do a System Restore to the last time Flight Mode was working, and avoid having to download updates or reinstall programs unnecessarily.
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    Tablet
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Microsoft Surface Pro 3
    CPU
    Core i5
    Memory
    8GB
I seem to be having the same issue. I too have CorelDRAW X3 installed on my laptop. And, I think the problem started right after I installed Corel. Do you think uninstalling Corel will fix the issue? Or are there any permission related settings that I can change that might fix the issue? Any help will be highly appreciated. Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
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