Windows 7 and XP Disable wireless when connected to hot wired

Question

Hello there,
We are facing IP address shortage due to redundant network connections from laptops because every laptop uses two IP address when connected to wireless network and hard wire. Does Windows 7 and XP natively has the options to disable wireless when a laptop
is connected to hard wired? I know the wireless can easily disabled by manual process but problem is user don't have the knowledge or don't bother to do that. So if there is a way to use GPO to configure this would be ideal -- no 3rd party solution please.
Any suggestion is most welcomed.
Thanks,
TL

Answer 1

There are no Fail proof ways for Win 7 or 8 to make sure that AT ALL times Wire is used over WIFI. The metric setting is ignored by MS. I know cause my metric for the wired is 10 and for the WiFi is 9999, but at all times the WiFi is used instead of the
Wired. This is by design as Microsoft being as inept as always did not properly design their operating system. This is a DESIGN DEFECT, which Microsoft will not admit to, despite the fact that it could be caused by no other method EXCEPT incompetent design,
ignored during quality assurance testing etc. The reason there are a million people looking for a fix for this design flaw is that there is NO fix available. MS will not fix it as they got your money and could care less. Being that they are among the most
evil and greedy companies currently in business is why it will never be fixed. I dare them to prove me wrong and fix the obvious design defect. I double dare all who read this to log in to the MS tech net and demand that they fix this DESIGN DEFECT.
Any developer qualified to design an OS should have no problem permanently fixing this and Microsoft has NO EXCUSE for not doing so with an update!!!!!! All they have to do in the code logic is ask the system if the device getting an IP etc is using a "radio"
then it asks all the other devices that are getting or have gotten an IP if it was gotten via a radio, If during any of these quires the answer is I DID NOT get my IP from a radio connection then that IP path gets priority and all the others, IE WiFi gets
disabled. Then if there is a change in the network, loss of connectivity for example, the process is repeated and when everything say's it got its IP from a radio then the WiFi takes over. So in a nut shell every connection is looked at to see if it is from
a radio based device or a hardwired based device, NOT using metrics since that apparently can not be counted on, the prof is in the 500+ PCs I just setup, ALL OF WHICH GIVE A SIGNIFICANTLY LOWER METRIC TO THE WIRED, but still choose the WIFi. The order of
the connection establishment should not matter since the test is performed on every connection and as soon as one is found that is not radio based, it is left on and all others are turned off. Common sense really. This is NOT ROCKET science! Just good common
sense programing.
So I challenge everyone who reads this comment to add a demand for MS to fix the DESIGN DEFECT once and for all.
That's all I have to say. If there is a script as some of the suggestions here mention that can do it, if there is a single 3rd party product out there that can do it, then there is NO EXCUSE for MS not to provide a PERMANENT OFFICIAL MICROSOFT CERTIFIED
FREE fix for this DEFECT. And yes it can only be classified as a DESIGN DEFECT as common sense say's you would AT NO time under normal operations EVER want the MUCH slower WiFi, 100 mbps  compared to 1000 mbps for wired to be in charge. EVER! Even if
the wired nic is only 100 mbps, some cheep junk laptops have the indecency to come with a 100 mbps nic instead of a Gigabit, the Wired is still better 99.99999% of the time.
And one last thing this IS THE ONLY REAL ACCEPTABLE ANSWER to the original question, and all the others just like it who EXPECT, with GOOD REASON, that COMMON SENSE, would be in charge NOT ignorance and defective designs, and that AT ALL TIME WIRED RULES
OVER WIFI.
Hope this helps, it is time to insist that MS do their job AND FIX THE DESIGN DEFECT!!!!!!!!!
Ralph
PS Not all systems have switches on the outside for disabling the WiFi. My HPs don't and trying to train all the users on how to MANUALLY disable it and when to do so etc is like trying heard flock of sparrows, it's not happening, NOR SHOULD IT NEED TO!