Yes you can. One of the options is using Visual Studio if you are Windows user (using built in library is enough to meet your 'option to turn off' needs). There so many examples of serial communication using either C# or C++ with Arduino, so you can do communication between Laptop - Arduino via serial cable or even built in bluetooth in laptop (with extra bluetooth module for Arduino).
You can read many information from your PC (for further development), such as temperature or battery level