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Is there a USB on / off switch?

K

Klinger

Member
I got a USB Beverage Chiller (link) as a present. It is pretty cool but has one major flaw: no on / off switch.

Now at work I don't care if it is on all the time because I don't pay the bills but at home I don't want this sucking energy 24/7. Ideally it would have an on / off switch. My question is whether there is a way to have an on / off switch that is either hardware or software based.

I tried searching this forum and the web and could not find anything. I tried finding something I could disable/enable in the Device Manager and that didn't work (at least I couldn't get it to work). Please let me know what you think. Also, I have tried placing it on the hub of my Dell monitor's USB ports and Windows gives an insufficient power warning for the device so I don't know if I can have it plugged into anything too far from the main computer.

THANKS!
 
If you are concerned about wasting energy by having that gadget on all the time then keep consuming :beer:!
 
Unplugging it is an option except that it would be kind of inconvenient to have to dig through the wires to connect it in the back. Currently I have it in front of my computer near the 2 USB ports there so I can plug it in if necessary.

IsLNdbOi,
Your idea looks pretty good. It just seems like there should be something even simpler. Literally just a switch. Dunno why this doesn't exist. Thanks though.
 
I don't know if this will help or not, but in the System Tray on my computer (lower right corner of the screen), there is a little rectangle thingy with a diagonal green arrow over it. When I right click it, I can choose to "unplug or eject hardware." It enables me to "stop" my HP printer (which is plugged into a USB port in back of the computer) without 'damaging' anything. (Supposedly you're not supposed to just unplug certain USB devices without "stopping" them first.)

Does your machine have that icon in your System Tray? If so, that could be your solution. :thumbsup: If not, presumably there's a way to add that icon (?).
 
Originally posted by: Ken90630
I don't know if this will help or not, but in the System Tray on my computer (lower right corner of the screen), there is a little rectangle thingy with a diagonal green arrow over it. When I right click it, I can choose to "unplug or eject hardware." It enables me to "stop" my HP printer (which is plugged into a USB port in back of the computer) without 'damaging' anything. (Supposedly you're not supposed to just unplug certain USB devices without "stopping" them first.)

Does your machine have that icon in your System Tray? If so, that could be your solution. :thumbsup: If not, presumably there's a way to add that icon (?).
Click to expand...

that probably won't work for him but nice try

I am thinking maybe you can either buy something or make something it shouldn't be that hard is there a way you could cut the cord and put a switch into it? software would be ideal though

edit: okay I am thinking maybe you would be able to go into the device manager and disable it from there than when you want to use it simply re-enable it.
 
Originally posted by: w00t
Originally posted by: Ken90630
I don't know if this will help or not, but in the System Tray on my computer (lower right corner of the screen), there is a little rectangle thingy with a diagonal green arrow over it. When I right click it, I can choose to "unplug or eject hardware." It enables me to "stop" my HP printer (which is plugged into a USB port in back of the computer) without 'damaging' anything. (Supposedly you're not supposed to just unplug certain USB devices without "stopping" them first.)

Does your machine have that icon in your System Tray? If so, that could be your solution. :thumbsup: If not, presumably there's a way to add that icon (?).
Click to expand...

that probably won't work for him but nice try

I am thinking maybe you can either buy something or make something it shouldn't be that hard is there a way you could cut the cord and put a switch into it? software would be ideal though

edit: okay I am thinking maybe you would be able to go into the device manager and disable it from there than when you want to use it simply re-enable it.
Click to expand...

Hi, wOOt,

I'm curious -- why don't you think it would work? It works perfectly for my USB printer, and I can't imagine why it wouldn't work with any another USB device. It also works with my USB jump drive -- I just right-click that little icon in the System Tray, stop the device, and it shuts off (the little green light at the end of the drive goes out).

What am I missing here? 😕
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I had actually tried Device Manager as I had stated originally and I also tried that remove hardware icon. The problem I am having is that the computer does not recognize that it is even there. Perhaps it is only USB in the sense that it gets power but not as a hardware option. I don't know what to disable in the Device Manager and I don't see anything in the remove hardware icon.

As far as making one, do you have any advice as to how I would go about doing that? Maybe a link to a web page that explains how?
 
Originally posted by: Klinger
Thanks for the suggestions. I had actually tried Device Manager as I had stated originally and I also tried that remove hardware icon. The problem I am having is that the computer does not recognize that it is even there. Perhaps it is only USB in the sense that it gets power but not as a hardware option. I don't know what to disable in the Device Manager and I don't see anything in the remove hardware icon.

As far as making one, do you have any advice as to how I would go about doing that? Maybe a link to a web page that explains how?
Click to expand...

well no I don't have a website, but there looks to be 5 or so small wires in a usb cable. Just cut one and install a switch that closes all the connections once the wire is spliced. I can't imagine it being that tough. The toughest part would be dealing with the small wires.
 
Originally posted by: PurdueRy
Originally posted by: Klinger
Thanks for the suggestions. I had actually tried Device Manager as I had stated originally and I also tried that remove hardware icon. The problem I am having is that the computer does not recognize that it is even there. Perhaps it is only USB in the sense that it gets power but not as a hardware option. I don't know what to disable in the Device Manager and I don't see anything in the remove hardware icon.

As far as making one, do you have any advice as to how I would go about doing that? Maybe a link to a web page that explains how?
Click to expand...

well no I don't have a website, but there looks to be 5 or so small wires in a usb cable. Just cut one and install a switch that closes all the connections once the wire is spliced. I can't imagine it being that tough. The toughest part would be dealing with the small wires.
Click to expand...

I actually opened up a usb and converted a xbox controller to usb for my computer it should be fairy easy.

 
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