Introducing "Aero Controller", the program that automatically turns off the Windows Vista Aero interface (Translucent/Transparent windows) when you unplug your notebook computer from it's AC Adapter. The best thing is is that it can re-enable the Aero interface when you plug it back in.

This program was born out of the need for me to have a little bit more battery life when I'm on battery while at college. I noticed that when the Aero interface was enabled that my battery life well, for a lack of a better word... sucked. I cooked the core of this little program up in about half an hour. The hardest part was finding the appropriate Win32 API functions to manipulate the Aero interface along with a way to poll the power state of the computer. Once that was all done it was smooth sailing from then on.

NEW VERSION! Introducing Aero Controller Version 1.2 Build 26! Updated July 21, 2010.

Download Aero Controller

Update Notice: A new version of Aero Controller (Build 26) has been released. Build 26 includes some fixes to the routine Aero Controller uses to detect multiple running instances of itself. Before it would detect another running instance of itself and exit even if that other process was running under a different user on the computer. You would notice this if you had more than one user logged in and you tried to run Aero Controller. This issue has been corrected. Also introduced a new command line argument (--disable-multiprocess-check) that disables the multiple process checking routine.

Certified to be virus free at VirusTotal.com as of July 21, 2010.

There are five new command line switches that have been programmed into Aero Controller. They are as follows...

--enable-global-startup (Requires invokation with Administrator privileges)
--disable-global-startup (Requires invokation with Administrator privileges)
--enable-user-startup
--disable-user-startup
--disable-multiprocess-check (Disables the routine that checks for multiple running processes of itself)

These command line switches are more often than not used internally by the program but can be used if you so choose.

FAQ

Q: I've run your program, a new icon showed up in my clock tray. Is there anything else I need to do?
A: Nope. I programmed this little app to be as easy to use as possible. Simply run and forget. It's that easy to use.

Q: Why when I unplug my notebook computer the change doesn't take place immediately. Why is that?
A: That's because the program polls the power-state of the machine every five seconds. If you happen to unplug the notebook in between polling times, the change won't take place until the next power-state poll occurs. You can change the speed at which it polls this system data by using the "Configure Power-State Polling Speed" option in the right-click menu.

Q: Can I make this startup everytime I log into Windows Vista?
A: Sure you can. Right-click on the clock tray icon and click the "Enable at System Startup" item. It will then put an item in your profile's startup procedure.

Q: Is this program free?
A: Yep!

Q: Will this program remain free?
A: Yes! I have no plans on making people pay for this program.

Q: Is there anything that spies on me? Do you collect any information about me?
A: NO! I HATE spyware and will NEVER spy on the users that use my program.

Q: What about your update checker? What does that send to you?
A: All it sends to my web site is a special code that identifies the program, which in this case is "aerocontroller" and the version that you currently have. For the case of version 1.2 Build 20 all it sends is "1.2" to the server. Nothing else is sent to my web site. I do not use this information for any other purpose but for giving you details on new versions.

Q: Where did the settings options go?
A: Starting in version 1.2 Build 18, all settings options went into a separate window that can be activated from the Aero Controller menu item called "Settings".

Q: Can I have the source code?
A: Yes, source code is available upon request but please do have a good reason for it before requesting it.

Q: What programming language?
A: Visual Basic .NET 2010 Professional using the .NET Framework version 3.0.

Q: What is the difference between version 1.0 and the new version 1.2? It doesn't look any different to me.
A: That's because the changes are "under the hood". Version 1.2 is vastly different from version 1.0 in the way the program is constructed and the way the code is layed out. Because of these changes it did away with one of the most nagging bugs that I've been trying to do away with ever since the program came about.

Q: Why do I get an alert about a program not being compatible with Windows Vista (and/or Windows 7) Aero? Why is it your program?
A: The issue is that there is no real way to make Aero turn off, the only way is to trick Windows Vista into thinking that one of your programs that you are running isn't compatible with Windows Vista Aero. When Windows Vista notices this it turns Aero off, you may've noticed this with other programs like Apple Quicktime. The APIs are well documented and doing it this way seems to be the only way to do so. There's even a function called DwmEnableComposition(bool) in the "dwmapi.dll" library that's written by Microsoft.

Q: I have version 1.0 or 1.1. Do I need to upgrade?
A: Yes, since those older versions are no longer being supported. I can assure you, version 1.2 is just as great as the older versions were.

Q: Why does Aero Controller say that it detected another running instance of itself when my own user doesn't have it running but another user does?
A: That issue is due to a bug in the multiple instance checking routine in which the routine didn't take into account multiple users on the computer. That issue has since been fixed in version 1.2 Build 26.