Can't turn Bluetooth on or off

Apologies if this is not the right forum but I posted a query on my Aspire laptop recently and got the answer (from IronFly) very quickly. Hoping I might be lucky a second time.

On my Acer Aspire laptop (running Windows 8.1 upgraded from Windows 8) when I select "Bluetooth" under"PC and devices" I have a sliding bar with the option of turning Bluetooth on or off. I also have a new Packard Bell Imedia S2885 desktop PC (running Windows 8.1 from new) but this shows no on/off option under "PC and devices". Bluetooth works fine on the desktop PC but there seems to be no way to turn it off. Disabling under "Network Connections" doesn't work and I have tried updating the driver but I have the latest available. I have only had the desktop for a month and the on/off option has been missing from day 1. When I go to "Bluetooth Settings" by clicking on the Bluetooth icon in the notification area the option "Allow Bluetooth devices to find this PC" is not selected yet other devices can still detect my computer. Any help on how I can turn off Bluetooth would be much appreciated.

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GuruAid-CS

You should be able to turn on or off Bluetooth using the steps mentioned below:
1. Press the Windows key + C to open your Charms.
2. Select the Settings charm, and then click Change PC settings.
3. Select Wireless.
4. You can now change the Wireless or Bluetooth settings to On or Off.

If you're unable to do so, try running the Microsoft fixit or the other steps mentioned in the article below:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-in/windows-vista/troubleshoot-problems-with-bluetooth-enabled-devices

Juggernaut

Thanks, GuruAid, but "Wireless" isn't an option that appears in my "Change PC Settings". "Bluetooth" does appear as an option but there is no on/off slider when I click on it. I tried to run Mr Fixit but all it says is, "This troubleshooter does not apply to your system."

Thanks again for replying anyway.

JordanB

1. Open "Network and Sharing Center" on your computer.

2. Select "change adapter settings"

3. Click on Bluetooth

4. Right click on Bluetooth and select "disable"

Juggernaut

Thanks for your reply, JordanB. I tried to reply earlier with a screenshot but for some reason my reply didn't appear here. I did try your suggestion but though I disabled Bluetooth it made no difference and it still reads "Your PC is searching for and can be discovered by Bluetooth devices".

Juggernaut

In case anyone has a similar problem, I have now discovered a workaround. Although it doesn't solve the problem of the missing Bluetooth on/off slider, it does at least allow you to turn Bluetooth off so the PC is not discoverable.

When I open up Device Manager on my PC there are three devices under the “Bluetooth” heading: Bluetooth USB Module, Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator and Microsoft Bluetooth LE Enumerator. Under the “Network adapters” heading there are four devices shown, two of which are identified as Bluetooth ones, namely Personal Area Network and RFCOMM Protocol TDI. If I right-click the Bluetooth USB Module, the drop-down menu that appears includes a “Disable” option. If I select this option I receive a warning, “Disabling this device will cause it to stop functioning. Do you really want to disable it?” When I select “Yes”, Microsoft Bluetooth Enumerator and Microsoft Bluetooth LE Enumerator both disappear from Device Manager along with the two Bluetooth devices that were listed under “Network adapters”. Now there is no reference to Bluetooth under the “PC and devices” setting and my PC is not discoverable by other Bluetooth devices. If I want to restore Bluetooth functionality to my PC, I go back into Device Manager, right-click Bluetooth USB module and select “Enable”. Bluetooth is now working again. Why this works but a similar option for disabling under "Network and Sharing" (as suggested by JordanB) doesn't, I've no idea.

Hope the above helps someone in a similar position to me, but I'd love to know what happened to the Bluetooth on/off slider.

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