Fix for Logitech SetPoint doesn't launch with Windows 10
If you arrived here while searching for help for Logitech SetPoint installs, but won't open due to a side by side configuration error, read the newer article I wrote in August of 2023 about how I solved that problem.
October 16, 2016
I have a self-built computer that I upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10. It was recently upgraded to the Anniversary version; build 1607. Shortly thereafter, I began noticing that the double click action I had chosen for the wheel button on my Logitech M300 mouse was no longer happening. Here's how I fixed it!
At first I thought it was just a glitch, until the day I went to access the SetPoint icon in the System Tray - which had always been there - and found that it was no longer there. Rebooting had no effect either. Pfft, the icon was gone!
The missing System Tray (Systray) icon was responsible for all custom mouse settings and its disappearance left me with only basic mouse actions. So, I began my troubleshooting by reinstalling SetPoint. Despite the process going through to completion, the icon did not reappear in the Systray. I then went to Logitech.com and downloaded the most recent version of SetPoint and installed it. Still, no Systray icon and no settings that survived a reboot.
I then Googled the problem and found all kinds of people were having the same issue. Some were running Windows 10, others Windows 8. Evidently, some update broke the installation of the SetPoint Systray file, SetPoint.exe, and its icon. Unfortunately, none of the suggestions I read fixed my problem. So, I used my own intuition and ended up fixing it myself (this ain't my first rodeo).
The method I used to fix the missing SetPoint icon and executable was as follows. Since I operate separate accounts for Administrative Group and Standard User functions, I knew that my fix had to involve all user accounts. Since the SetPoint executable was being blocked by Windows 10, I used a workaround that I suspected it would allow. I added it to the Startup folder for all users. But, I ended up having to add a "switch" to the command that launched it at startup. I'll explain that in a minute.
To add a shortcut to launch an executable, or any type of file at startup and have it run for all user accounts, one must locate and open the Startup folder affecting all users. To do this, navigate using Windows File Explorer (linked to on Start Menu) to the following folder, via this path:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\StartUp
With the Startup folder open, left-click to the Start Button on the lower left of the Taskbar, then open the (All) Programs menu. The Anniversary update placed that menu in plain sight when the Start Menu is opened. It has a scrollbar on the right side of the list of programs. Scroll down to "Logitech" then click on that label to open its group. Then right-click on "Mouse and Keyboard Settings," left-select "More" and click on the link to "Open file location."
With the folder window open for the Logitech Mouse and Keyboard Settings shortcut file, right click on it and select "Copy." You are copying the shortcut to the actual executable. Next find the previously opened Startup folder. Right click inside it and select "Paste." This places a copy of the SetPoint shortcut into the Startup folder. But, if left as is, when Windows starts, the icon will appear in your Taskbar and SetPoint will open on your desktop. This is not what is supposed to happen when things were working as they were supposed to.
The fix for the unwanted SetPoint windows on startup is to edit the command that launches that shortcut. To do this, right click on the shortcut to Mouse and Keyboard Settings that is in the Startup folder and left-select "Properties." Look at the contents of the field for "Target." You will probably see that it ends like this: \SetPoint.exe" /s - which causes the program to launch on the desktop. What you need to do for a silent launch into only the Systray is to change that last letter "s" to a "q" - like this:
\SetPoint.exe" /q
Click Apply and Ok to save the change. In my computer, the full path to the silent launch of SetPoint into the Systray is as follows (yours could vary):
"C:\Program Files\Logitech\SetPointP\SetPoint.exe" /q
Now, every time I startup Windows 10, from any user account, SetPoint's icon is in the Systray and the preset mouse functions work as I intended. Unless I, or some rogue program remove that shortcut from the Startup folder, or I perform a System Reset to cure an unstable system, it will always launch as intended.
I hope this helps someone else. Thanks for reading this article!
