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Perversely, Microsoft provides no facility for changing this setting without starting such an application, by which time it may be too late. It is important to understand that when "Working Offline" is selected this is to be interpreted ONLY as a request to programs not to fetch information from the Internet. It does not disable a program's ability to do so and how well Online Offline works depends solely on how well, if at all, a program honors the "Working Offline" request. For example, Outlook 2000 will still automatically connect to retrieve emails even when "Working Offline" is selected!
To run OnlineOffline once it is installed (it needs Windows ME, 2000, XP or later and is free) just click on its shortcut in the Windows Start\Programs menu structure. This will bring up the program's Settings dialog box and also display an Icon in the System Tray.
You can also right-click the System Tray icon to get access to the Settings dialog box which allows extra control over the "Working Offline" flag's state and the way the program starts.
Should you decide to uninstall OnlineOffline then you should first shut it down. If the icon is visible in the System Tray then right-click on it and select "Exit". Then go to Add/Remove Programs in the Windows Control panel as usual.
If you know that you have Microsoft Installer version 2 (MSI 2.0) on your computer (you will have if you run Windows XP) then click Download, save the file "onoff.msi" on your computer, optionally virus check it and then double-click on it to start the installation. The file size is 454,656 bytes. If Windows Explorer does not show file extensions then note that it describes a file with the "msi" extension as a "Windows Installer Package".
If you don't know that you have Microsoft Installer version 2 (MSI 2.0) on your computer then you can either read the note below about checking for the presence of Microsoft Installer or simply try the procedure above. If Windows complains that it doesn't understand what to do with the file visit http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/platformsdk/sdkupdate/psdkredist.htm, download and install the Microsoft Installer package appropriate for your operating system and double-click the file "onoff.msi" once more.
If you are comfortable with using Windows Explorer to view files on your computer then start it up and have a look for a file called "msi.dll" in your Windows\System32 or Windows\System folder. If you don't have it then Microsoft Installer is not present. If you do then right-click on it and select Properties. If you click the Version tab then you should see a file version starting with 2 (or higher). If it starts with a 1 then you will need to upgrade your version of the Installer package by visiting http://www.microsoft.com/msdownload/platformsdk/sdkupdate/psdkredist.htm. Download and install the Microsoft Installer package appropriate for your operating system (rebooting if requested).
If you have any further questions about
OnlineOffline by all means send an e-mail.
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