Getting IntelliType for MS keyboards or mice to load at startup

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Level 9

57,954 points

Getting IntelliType for MS keyboards or mice to load at startup

MS still hasn't fixed the issue with the Intellitype drivers for Mountain Lion so they load by themselves. You have to open the System Preferences and click on the Microsoft Keyboard or Mouse panes to get them to load. These steps will eliminate the need to perform these manual steps.

I'd like to give credit to the person who first came up with this, but having found the same text in numerous places, I can't single out the origin.

Navigate to the folder /Library/PreferencePanes/ on the startup drive
Right click on Microsoft Mouse.prefpane for mice, Microsoft Keyboard.prefPane for keyboards
Select Show Package Contents
Navigate down through Contents > Resources
Leave the above folder open on the desktop , and open the System Preferences
Select Users & Groups
Click on your user, and then Login Items
Go back to folder on the desktop, select the file MicrosoftMouseHelper, or MicrosoftKeyboardHelper, and drag this into the login items area on the right-hand side of the login items page (in the System Preferences window).

In the sample below, I added the keyboard helper.

Repeat the steps if you added the keyboard helper and also need the mouse helper.

Now when you restart or start up your Mac, these helpers will load automatically.

Mac Pro, Mac OS X (10.6.8), Creo Eversmart Supreme II, Epson Stylus Pro 4900

Posted on May 9, 2013 12:37 PM

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Answer 1

May 9, 2013 4:59 PM in response to Kurt Lang

excellent help this works like a charm. great. good on you. how you found this solution is beyond me as i did google a few days ago and found nothing. thanks.

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Answer 2

TildeBee

Level 7

31,917 points

May 9, 2013 6:58 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Kurt -- What symptoms will a poster have if this is the problem?

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Answer 3

May 9, 2013 7:40 PM in response to Kurt Lang

hi just want to let you know i added notes from your post here in this tutorial here http://sneekygeekers.com/2013/05/10/microsoft-mouse-and-keyboard-setup-on-mounta in-lion/

gave you credit and pointed back to this for ya. great guy.

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Answer 4

TildeBee

Level 7

31,917 points

May 9, 2013 7:55 PM in response to mickeyj4j

You're right. He's the Best!

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Answer 5

Kurt Lang Author

Level 9

57,954 points

May 10, 2013 7:55 AM in response to mickeyj4j

how you found this solution is beyond me as i did google a few days ago and found nothing.

I've looked numerous times, also. Must have gotten the right keywords this time. 🙂

What symptoms will a poster have if this is the problem?

I can't speak for users of the mouse panel, but if you're using one of the Microsoft keyboards the drivers are for, your keyboard won't be completely functional. Among the problems:

1) The keyboard will remain mapped for a PC. The Alt (Option) key is next to the spacebar and will stay there, which means the Windows logo key will respond as the Command key, which is between Alt and Ctrl. To the right of the spacebar, the Alt key will again be Option, but the menu key between that and the right Ctrl key won't do anything you expect. To say the least, not having the Command key in its normal Mac position is a real pain.

2) None of the other special keys will work, like the entire string of silver keys across the top of the 4000.

gave you credit and pointed back to this for ya. great guy.

Thanks! I hadn't seen that site before. Looks like a person could spend days there. I'll have to bookmark that one.

A secondary note: For users wondering if this is some sort of hack, it is not. If you've used IntelliType in Lion, Snow Leopard, or other previous versions of OS X, you'll see that MicrosoftMouseHelper and/or MicrosoftKeyboardHelper are in the user account Login Items. What's probably happening is security changes in Mountain Lion, such as sandboxing, are preventing these Login Items from being added during installation. So all you're doing is manually completing a step the IntelliType installer is failing at.

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Answer 6

donkbonk

Level 1

0 points

Aug 19, 2013 2:38 AM in response to Kurt Lang

Thanks Kurt, good job with those tips

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Answer 7

Feb 9, 2014 5:55 PM in response to Kurt Lang

Hi, I did what you posted, I added MicrosoftMouseHelper to the LoginItems. But, somehow, when I restart or start up Mac, the driver don't detect my mouse, and if I go to the Microsoft Intellipoint panel, its look like the Mouse is not conected, so I have to disconnect physically the wired USB mouse, and connect it again, then the picture of my mouse appear and works fine.

I am using OSX 10.9.1. Someone knows how to fix this?, it is really annoying, after reboot, always connect and disconect the usb. Thanks a lot, (sorry for my english)

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Answer 8

Kurt Lang Author

Level 9

57,954 points

Feb 10, 2014 6:13 AM in response to bheatcoker

Not sure. This little fix only ensures that the Intellitype drivers will load automatically at startup. That the OS doesn't detect the mouse itself without disconnecting and plugging it back in is a separate issue. I can't guess though why that would be.

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