I am trying to be able to open the network connection properties from the command line / with a program (if it works on the command line I can use ShellExecute or CreateProcess, if it works in a program only, that is just as good!)
These are the typical property pages that show up when you double click on the network adapters in the Network Connections. Sometimes these are a bit odd (you get the list of available networks for a wireless network, preferable would be to jump straight to the advanced properties).
I have a partial solution. I got this working on Vista and almost on XP (having XP support is a must). To do this I run:
start ::{208D2C60-3AEA-1069-A2D7
-08002B303
09D}\::{70
07ACC7-320
2-11D1-AAD
2-00805FC1
270E}\::{G
UID of network card}
The first GUID is of the Network Folder, second is of the Network Connections folder. This command also works with the first ::{...}\ dropped out. The GUID of each network card can be found in the registry at "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWA
RE\Microso
ft\Windows
NT\CurrentVersion\NetworkC
ards". There are also numerous ways to get them programatically. Running this command using "explorer.exe" or "explorer.exe /e," also works however about half the time it fails to actually open the window. Using "start" always works.
As I said before, on Vista this always works, even inside a program. However, I was just testing on XP, and only my Local Area Connection will open this way. The other ones almost seem to work because if you enter a GUID of a non-existent adapter it complains the path cannot be found, however running it with real ones makes the command prompt flash for a second but no window opens.
Any ideas on how to get this working in XP?
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Other things I have tried:
The NT method of using ncpa.cpl,@... which no longer works apparently, will only open the network connections folder
If I create a shortcut to a connection (which gets put on the desktop), I get a shortcut referencing the GUID {BA126ADB-2166-11D1-B1D0-0
0805FC1270
E} no matter which adapter. Examining the link with a hex editor, I find this GUID in there, and immediately following it is the GUID of the adapter. The GUID used for these shortcuts (the {BA126....} one) doesn't seem to work on the command line and I always get failures from it.
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