Taming Logitech SetPoint on Vista

Yes! Another Vista annoyance resolved!  Hooah!

Two Mice...but only one has a Tale

I have a pair of Logitech Optical LX7 mice.  I really like the way they feel, size-wise, in my hand.  One is corded which I use on our XP desktop system and the one I use on the Vista laptop is wireless.

One of the great features is that the scroll-wheel can also be left-push-clicked or right-push-clicked. While Vista and XP seem to install default drivers just fine automatically, to use the advanced configuration features, you need to install Logitech's own drivers and SetPoint software to control it.

I have the left-push-click set to a "copy" function and the right-push-click set to "paste."

When I am blogging I can really fly when I am copying URL's and pasting them into the Windows Live Writer link editor. Select--copy--edit--paste...seamlessly without ever taking my right hand off the mouse.  It's a sweet dance.

Only unlike on my XP system, those features have never worked under Vista with the mouse.

Troubleshooting a Mouse

First thing I did was to be sure to download the latest Logitech software/drivers.

I was sure to grab the Vista version.  However, the copy/paste click function still wouldn't work.

The mouse itself worked fine and otherwise seemed unaffected; it was just the extra-features that didn't work.

I could see the options in the SetPoint application were set correctly and it seemed to save and retain them just fine, they just wouldn't work.  I could see SetPoint running as a process in Process Explorer so from all indications the software/drivers had installed correctly.

From my previous experience I had a gut-feeling that there was some crazy UAC mojo keeping the copy/paste activity from working.

I suspected that UAC was blocking the copying of data from a lower-rights application into a similar or higher-rights running application.  But I couldn't be sure.

My Vista profile is already an "administrator" account, so the install should have given it sufficient rights to work correctly...which it did not.

Next I tried to get it to work with a manual "run as administrator" launching run.  Nope. Didn't work.

So I placed a shortcut to Logitech's SetPoint.exe file in the Startup folder.  Nope. It would launch, but still wouldn't allow the advanced features to work.

I enabled the shortcut to "run as administrator" but that caused the UAC to block it entirely (see this post for details on that).

I tried using the Startup Program Unblocker mini tweaking utility by Jimmy B but it would not offer me the option to set it to run as administrator.

So that left me with one more option to try.

Hickory-Dickory-Dock, Tasking a Mouse to Run by the Clock

I removed the SetPoint shortcut from the Startup folder where I had placed it in my earlier attempts and then set it to run at login as a scheduled task under Administrator privileges.

Note: You MUST be using an "administrator level" profile account for this to work.

To configure an application (set to run with administrative-level privileges) in Vista to launch this way at startup, just follow the steps outlined below:

1. Click the "Start Orb" in Vista,
2. Select "All Programs" and click,
3. Find the "Accessories" folder, and click it,
4. Find the "System Tools" folder, and click it,
5. Find "Task Scheduler" icon and click it to launch.
6. Under the "Actions" column on the right find and click "Create Task",
7. Give it a name, (a description might be helpful to add-in as well).
8. Under the Security Options, tick the "Run with highest privileges" box,
9. Select the "Triggers" tab,
10. Click the "New" button",
11. On the top line that says "Begin the task:" click the drop-down menu and select "At log on",
12. Under the "Settings" area on the same tab, click the radio-button option next to "Specific user or group:" which should be your account name.
13. Unless you want to set additional options, click "OK" button,
14. Now move over and click on the "Actions" tab.
15. Click the "New" button to add a new action to our scheduled event.
16. Leave the Action drop-down item set to "Start a program",
17. Click the "Browse" button and browse for the executable you wish to run when you log on. (In my case I was looking for C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPoint\SetPoint.exe .)
18. Select it and click "Open" button. It should appear in the line. Feel free to add any additional arguments and/or "Start in (optional)" items if you need them.
19. Click "OK"
20. Click "OK"

Done!

I logged off my profile and logged back on.

I tested the copy/paste functions of the mouse....and they worked perfectly now.

So UAC struck again, and by allowing this program to run as a scheduled task with administrator level permission in this way, SetPoint was now able to function normally copy/pasting between different applications.

Whew!

I'm getting pretty good about working around Vista now!

For more background on UAC and Vista's blocking of administrator enabled programs from running from the Startup folder, see this post of mine: Another Vista Issue Resolved: Launch Apps at Startup

SetPoint Hacking Bonus:

uberOptions - (freeware) - utility to enable all options on all buttons in SetPoint. Nifty little Logitech mouse SetPoint software hacking tool.  Gives you the full range of button options, and not the locked-down picks that Logitech offers.  Cool little application.

--Claus