# How to prevent Razer Synapse software from running at startup



## kiwiasian

This is so stupid--I did a reinstall of Windows and I found that Razer got rid of the old BlackWidow Ultimate drivers and replaced it with some cloud-based "Synapse" software. I installed it and everything works fine, but the stupid software GUI opens up every time I start the system. I found the old drivers but the old version doesn't work with the firmware that the Synapse software automatically updated my keyboard to. Anyone know how to prevent just the GUI from opening at startup. Msconfig will not work because it causes the macro keys to stop functioning. I only want to suppress the GUI from displaying.


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## RagingCain

I don't have it installed by try either the Startup folder in the Start menu, or MSCONFIG in the RUN / Search box. Then go over to Startup tab and disable willy nilly. If its not there check the services tab. Sometimes though not all services display here, so if its not there, run SERVICES.MSC in the CMD or Run, and see if you can disable one that looks like a Razer service.


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## kiwiasian

Well as stated in the original post that would cause the software to stop functioning entirely. I need the software to be running, as only then the macro keys work. I only need to prevent the GUI from automatically opening on startup.

I'm sure there's an option or setting somewhere that I'm overlooking but I've searched for hours and it seems like either no such setting exists or everyone else using Synapse does not have this issue...


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## SniperTeamTango

Unfortunately this is a security feature and can't be prevented. I presume you clicked on "log in automatically" at first login as well. The devices are not paired to accounts, the software is, and seeing as many users use login macros for games and such it cannot be prevented as it is necessary to login on every startup.

Might I ask why the UI is a problem?


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## kiwiasian

It's just incredibly annoying. The old drivers were so much better, where it would only run in the system tray and not be obtrusive.

So you're saying Synapse runs at startup for every Razer product owner? I highly doubt I'm the only one annoyed by that...


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## Ghost12

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kiwiasian*
> 
> It's just incredibly annoying. The old drivers were so much better, where it would only run in the system tray and not be obtrusive.
> So you're saying Synapse runs at startup for every Razer product owner? I highly doubt I'm the only one annoyed by that...


I have razor nostramo, bw ultimate and deathadder and uninstalled synapse altogether. Constantly crashes, not responding, updates that don't work and try over again. I found it absolutely useless to use.


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## SniperTeamTango

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ghost12*
> 
> I have razor nostramo, bw ultimate and deathadder and uninstalled synapse altogether. Constantly crashes, not responding, updates that don't work and try over again. I found it absolutely useless to use.


I've never seen any of the issues you describe. Alsos you must have not used it on your blackwidow as the firmware does not support the older drivers now.


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## Ghost12

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SniperTeamTango*
> 
> I've never seen any of the issues you describe. Alsos you must have not used it on your blackwidow as the firmware does not support the older drivers now.


Keyboard and mouse were both configured in synapse 2.0. Nostramo wasn't. Recently kept saying update available. update never completed, the programme tried to complete this time and time again after reboot. I deleted/uninstalled synapse. Often after start up and when the razor icons successfully loaded in system tray, click on synapse to open often unresponsive then closed from system tray automatically. No hardware faults, I love my razor products. Maybe windows 8 related


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## SniperTeamTango

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ghost12*
> 
> Keyboard and mouse were both configured in synapse 2.0. Nostramo wasn't. Recently kept saying update available. update never completed, the programme tried to complete this time and time again after reboot. I deleted/uninstalled synapse. Often after start up and when the razor icons successfully loaded in system tray, click on synapse to open often unresponsive then closed from system tray automatically. No hardware faults, I love my razor products. Maybe windows 8 related


Yep! The program has no support for windows 8 yet! I'm sorry if I'd had known I'd have pointed that out for you. Its being worked on I assure you.


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## Ghost12

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SniperTeamTango*
> 
> Yep! The program has no support for windows 8 yet! I'm sorry if I'd had known I'd have pointed that out for you. Its being worked on I assure you.


That explains it then. Just in the middle of re-installing it from web to see if it had changed ha


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## SniperTeamTango

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Ghost12*
> 
> That explains it then. Just in the middle of re-installing it from web to see if it had changed ha


I shoulda just looked at your sig rig lol woulda noticed that.


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## Jixr

As a razer naga and nostromo owner ( who takes them both to and from work ) I really like the idea of synaps, but, its very buggy, profile switching is slow ( which i do all the time ) its a good idea, but very poorly done. But my work and home computer is set up very similarly, so its nice to come home and every button works the same as it does on my work computer.

But, matching profiles at home and work is a pain, since I use every single profile and button on my nostromo ( mostly full of AutoCad commands and macros ) and i actually use them all.

But, they are saying that nostromo will be added to synapse in q4 ( no exact date tba ) which i'm causiously excited about, because then I can finally get rid of my keyboard at work. ( been wanting to combo naga buttons with the nostromo )

hopefully the overall performance of synapse will clean up once they release more products to work with it.


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## flamester91

Has anyone found a solution to this yet?

All I can find are ways to disable it from opening completely, and as the OP said I just want it minimized. Why is that so hard? Razer support has been absolutely useless.


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## rexbinary

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *flamester91*
> 
> Has anyone found a solution to this yet?
> All I can find are ways to disable it from opening completely, and as the OP said I just want it minimized. Why is that so hard? Razer support has been absolutely useless.


I have found no fix. I haven't emailed support yet. I guess I will since they don't have forums. (And I see why)


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## kiwiasian

So am I correct in saying that the Synapse GUI runs on startup for everyone? It's not just me?

If I am correct, I can't believe there aren't more people complaining...


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## boogdud

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kiwiasian*
> 
> So am I correct in saying that the Synapse GUI runs on startup for everyone? It's not just me?
> If I am correct, I can't believe there aren't more people complaining...


I don't think many people are using it unless they're buying a new product. I'm staying far away from razer products until they finally drop this gimmicky "cloud based" driver junk. Talk about frivolous.

I mean the idea is fine and good, if it's an OPTION, but it's not. It's currently the only way to get drivers for any new razer hardware (and many old ones are being migrated to synapse and the old drivers being removed). If it was just an option and you could just save your profiles and drivers to your own machine and turn off the synapse stuff it would be fine. But it's not. It's basically DRM for your friggin mouse/keyboard.

It's like some bad idea that came out of a board meeting where a bunch of 60 year olds sat in a room and tried to come up with something "hip" that nobody else in the industry was doing. Well, nobody else is doing it, because it's terrible.

Sorry for this rant but I've been a fan of razer since the boomslang and the viper (still my favorite mouse ever), but this new 'direction' the company has taken has completely driven me away. It's frustrating.


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## flamester91

I've emailed them multiple times but their support is absolute ****. All they've said is they can't help me or uninstall it or we're working on a fix. It take s them over a week to get back to you and i emailed them over a month ago about this issue. Never in my life have I seen support this bad. This is definitely the last time I give Razer any more of my money.


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## SniperTeamTango

As I've said in this thread the stage is necessary because of the account login system. Just tot point out the software is still in beta as it said when you downloaded it AND installed it. Also if you didn't click log in automatically it wouldn't come up.


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## Intense

I also believe this program is super useless and I was forced to download it basically. Pops up every damn time, can't stand it. May cause me to get rid of my Deathadder if it keeps this up.


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## Demented

It starts up for me each time, but I don't care about the second it takes to close/minimize it.


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## rexbinary

Does anyone even really use 'cloud' settings? I only play PC games with my DeathAdder mouse and BlackWidow keyboard on my PC at home. I don't take my DeathAdder or BlackWidow anywhere with me. Is the Synapse Cloud really useful for anyone? Did customers ask for this feature or did Razer just decide customers should have this?


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## kiwiasian

I called Razer support and the support representative told me that the automatic startup was a bug in the current version of the software and that their dev team is "aware of the issue and will release an update in the near future." So I will put up with it for the time being, and hopefully the software is updated soon.


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## Crooksy

I installed them after reformatting and uninstalled them straight away. I don't really need any drivers for my deathadder.


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## Philliesfan

Did Razer just implement this software? I have a Naga mouse and I am wondering if this is a contributing factor to my recent problem this morning, although I don't have a GUI for my mouse or any software that I am aware of. I'm not even sure I used the disk that came with my mouse.


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## rexbinary

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *Philliesfan*
> 
> Did Razer just implement this software? I have a Naga mouse and I am wondering if this is a contributing factor to my recent problem this morning, although I don't have a GUI for my mouse or any software that I am aware of. I'm not even sure I used the disk that came with my mouse.


They have always had traditional drivers for their devices, but the Razer Synapse all encompassing cloud driver is fairly new (last year or two?) and they are phasing out all the traditional drivers for it. They generally don't supply drivers on disk with the products anymore and just offer them for download on their website.


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## flamester91

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *kiwiasian*
> 
> I called Razer support and the support representative told me that the automatic startup was a bug in the current version of the software and that their dev team is "aware of the issue and will release an update in the near future." So I will put up with it for the time being, and hopefully the software is updated soon.


They told me this over a month ago. They must have the slowest dev team...
Also, any mention of this on twitter or reviews and razer will block you or remove you from showing up so that other people are unaware of any issues. Probably why they don't have forums.


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## rexbinary

I'm really thinking about ditching my BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth for a Ducky Shine II. Then I could just run the old stable driver for my DeathAdder and not need a driver for my keyboard. I don't use the macros anyway.


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## SniperTeamTango

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *rexbinary*
> 
> I'm really thinking about ditching my BlackWidow Ultimate Stealth for a Ducky Shine II. Then I could just run the old stable driver for my DeathAdder and not need a driver for my keyboard. I don't use the macros anyway.


If your DA updated the firmware then you cannot do that.


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## rexbinary

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *SniperTeamTango*
> 
> If your DA updated the firmware then you cannot do that.


Great


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## boogdud

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *flamester91*
> 
> They told me this over a month ago. They must have the slowest dev team...
> Also, any mention of this on twitter or reviews and razer will block you or remove you from showing up so that other people are unaware of any issues. Probably why they don't have forums.


They told me the same thing back in June... That's 5 months for the record. Also, the software has updated several times since then, still same issues.

There's a reason they don't have official forums, it would be inundated with these types of issues.


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## kiwiasian

The GUI startup was indeed a bug and was fixed in the most recent (10/23/2012) update of the software.


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## rexbinary

Yeah I got an auto-update today that finally fixed it.


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## TheGlow

Im in a similar boat only I saw a sale on the new naga 2012 for $40, but Synapse is mandatory for this model.
Meantime I have the original Naga and a Blackwidow ultimate.
Synapse is telling me theres a firmware update for my Blackwidow but I'm going to ignore that in case I want to use the old drivers.
For reference, Razer still hosts them, just wont let you know that.

Regular Naga/Molten/Epic 3.03 Driver
http://www.razersupport.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=viewdownload&downloaditemid=744

Regular Naga 1.13 Firmware
http://www.razersupport.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=viewdownload&downloaditemid=431&nav=0,40

Blackwidow Ultimate Driver 1.04
http://www.razersupport.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=viewdownload&downloaditemid=609&nav=0,77,82,116

Blackwidow Ultimate Firmware 1.08
http://www.razersupport.com/index.php?_m=downloads&_a=viewdownload&downloaditemid=645

It's all a matter of knowing what the last legit version was and googling it.
I'm concerned about Synapse offering a new keyboard firmware in if I update, I won't be able to rollback if necessary.
Also of note is the naga configurator when running would use up 7.7mb in task manager, and blackwidow configurator used up 8.2mb for a total of 15.9mb.
Synapse runs a close 2nd utilizing 75mb. 5x the bloat.


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## klepp0906

found this thread while looking for a similar fix.

Mine doesnt OPEN the GUI persay, but the software loads in the taskbar. Obviously closing it kills the switchblade UI etc but im trying to get rid of the taskbar icon while not losing the processes. Most software either doesnt require/have a taskbar icon required to run, or has the option to disable it. This has neither far as i can tell.

I know im late to the party but i just got my first razer kb/mouse. Love them apart from minor issues such as this. I mean.. ive been pc-ing for the better part of 20 years and I have NEVER EVER had anything in my taskbar... EVER. Im OCD. I'm ANAL. I'm a MINIMALIST.

Now all of a sudden im stuck with a windows cloud, a disconnect/hotswap usb icon thingy, and this Synapse crap... Sigh.


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## klepp0906

AAAND im back! cloud from onedrive GONE. safely remove hardware caused by bs Microsoft mass storage drivers GONE. razer synapse required crap STILL HERE.

Anyone have any suggestions as far as a solution goes? (slighty off topic but does anyone know if they develop new apps for this thing or do we just get the 12ish its had for ages and that's about it?)

As per my previous post - I can get synapse not to run on startup via conventional means... however this has the side effect of taking EVERYTHING the darn keyboard has to offer with it. At that point it becomes a plain jane wired keyboard.

Ideally I'll be able to close the software and open it manually, but while keeping the necessary services running to keep my switchbladeUI apps and the touchpad working.

Is this possible or am I dreaming? compscience majors, come out and plaaaaaaay!


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## klepp0906

I gotta tell ya. this thing will drive ya nuts









sigh usb3 w/ a usb2 keyboard + ehci/xhci is a nightmare.

I FINALLY understand what people vent about over razer. The hardware itself is brilliant - but boy does the software leave something to be desired.

lost potential imo









(fixed by a simple unplug/replug for the 2nd time!) after a reformat mind you. /boggle


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