Question

I am using WMI’s Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration class, EnableStatic method to set static IPs of a Loopback network adapter for testing. I noticed that the OS takes out a lock when there’s a visible property sheet. When user dismisses the sheet with changes, things freeze up until the update has completed.

How can I ensure exclusive access between my program in C# and Windows UI?

Answer 1

I think the EnableStatic method of the Win32_NetworkAdapterConfiguration class already acquires an exclusive lock to change the network adapter settings. A microsoft knowledge base article lead me to this conclusion Microsoft KB.
There is also a COM interface called INetCfgLock you could use to acquire an exclusive lock for changing network adapter settings. To acquire the lock use the INetCfgLock::AcquireWriteLock method.

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Here is a link to the project on codeproject which shows the use of the INetCfgLock COM interface and the INetCfgLock::AcquireWriteLock in C#.

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Hope, this helps.