Disabling bluetooth in Z or other models?

I want to disable bluetooth, like how I do it with my dell, in the dell, I just go into control panel => bluetooth devices => bluetooth settings, and then on the first tab, there's an option to "show system tray icon" and "disable bluetooth adapter".. when the system tray icon is enabled, I can right click on the icon and select "disable bluetooth adapter"

However, on the Z, I cannot find the option to "show system tray icon" or "disable bluetooth adapter". I have not updated any drivers.. but that's because I thought sony provided the latest drivers since I didn't get it too long ago. Do you guys think this is a driver related issue? Or is it because it's bluetooth 2.1 and... it turns off by itself? I can't think of any other reasons... please help

 

I disable it through device manager.

 

See if the BIOS settings will let you disable the device/interface.

 

do you want to disable it for security reason/?

 

How about the Vaio Smart Network utility? Click the green box below the bluetooth icon and its disabled.

 

thanks guys, i prefer not to disable through device manager as i find it time consuming.. and no it's not for security reasons.. more like battery reasons =) and Sick Nick, i'll try what you said once i get the laptop back from the repair shop (there was a big scratch on the lid when i got it and i sent it back).. just during the time that i had it.. i looked high and low to turn it off, guess i didnt notice the smart network utility! thanks again!

 

what battery reasons?

oh that wasn't to me.. i guess..

it may take an extra window clicking if you want to toggle it. but it stays permanently off for me, so using device manager is good for me.

 

There was a guy making a toggle utility, but he stopped working on it. the one he has might work for you, its worth a try.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=330378&highlight=devcon

read the thread because there are different version for x86 and x64 windows.

 

oh wow, that looks very useful and simple to use, thanks for the link, i'll take a look into it =)

 

VAIO Smart Network is the best, but I wont run in XP.

 

Depending on how you define "best". It is unable to cope well with situations like where you're connected both through WiFi and Ethernet at the same time, for example, while Vista's built-in Network Manager handles that gracefully.
It also start up background services for WWAN whether you use it or not, which doesn't sound like a battery saving feature to me.

 

It visibly indicate which device is currently on or off.
You can also turn on or off the device by just one click.
This is just a switch, so it wont do something like what you mentioned.
SmartWi seems to have 2 functions. It is a wireless switch and Sprint WWAN connection utility.