Guide: Killer Software / Extension Un-installation and Blocking

Killer Networking has some of the best hardware in the business when it comes to LAN and Wireless Cards but the problem lies in their Killer Software, extension, driver.

Example, I would clean install Windows, install the INF Drivers only and specifically choose that I DON'T want the Killer Software, the moment I go online, Windows update downloads a Rivet Networks Extension which then installs the following services:

Killer Networking Service
Killer Bandwidth Control
xTend Utility

The moment those are installed, I feel my 500MBPS Down/50 MBPS up connection just got downgraded to quarter of its speed. I feel my web browsing isn't snappy anymore, and I definitely see it while downloading games from Steam, Origin, and UPlay. It's very obvious because I usually download games at full speed but the moment that cancer extension is installed my internet gets crippled.

To add insult to injury, the Windows store silently and without my consent installs the Killer Software app since it detected the Rivet Networks extension driver installed.

I did give it a chance, trust me, I went into the Killer Software app, set my bandwidth properly by allowing it to test my internet speed, then went into each app and give it a 1 priority (meaning max bandwidth) but still games wouldn't download at full speed and it was very tedious to be going to each and every app that I want and giving it a priority! Who needs this? We live in an age where 90% of the population has super fast blazing internet speeds that you don't need to prioritize anything to enjoy streaming movies or gaming for example. You could be downloading a movie in the background, watching YouTube, or perhaps playing a game and still not feel any slowdown in whatever task you're doing.

Heck, Windows has a feature to reserve bandwidth for other apps so no single app can choke your internet and this has been since the days of Windows XP, which is called QoS

Anyway, enough talking now and let's get into business.


Note: When you download ANYTHING, you must unblock the file or ZIP file before running it or un-compressing it otherwise all the files within will have a BLOCKED status which will lead to erroneous installs, you can see how to do that in this guide and also find the tweak to disable this auto file blocking from happening so you don't have to worry about unblocking anything you download.

"Are you sure you want to run this file?" [Yes or No]

===================================================
For computers that already has the Killer Software installed:

1) Download GeekUninstaller
2) Disconnect from the Internet by unplugging your LAN cable if you were connected via LAN or forgetting the current Wireless Network to prevent Windows from auto installing any drivers after you have uninstalled the current LAN/WLAN Drivers
3) Extract the ZIP File
4) Run it as Admin
5) Look for the Killer LAN and WLAN drivers listed, uninstall each of them but when prompted to reboot, DO NOT reboot yet in order to allow GeekUninstaller to clean up whatever leftovers they left behind
6) Run the Killer Software Uninstall tool, let it scan for any Killer Components, then let it remove them. Reboot then run it again and then click on Disable Killer from Windows Update then reboot again:



7) Uninstall the Killer Control Center from your apps then reboot
8) Proceed with the guide below.
======================================================
On a clean install Windows (meaning not a single driver has been installed yet):

1) Download the Killer INF Driver only and Bluetooth Driver and have the ZIP File Extracted to a folder and ready to use or better yet, here is a collection of the latest LAN/WLAN Drivers: Latest LAN-Wireless-Bluetooth Drivers
2) Download Winaero Tweaker
3) Run it as Administrator then type Driver in the search box on the top left and disable Driver Updates


4) Press the CTRL + R button on your keyboard to bring up the run dialogue box
5) Type gpedit.msc and hit Enter to launch the Group Policy Editor
Skip step 3,4, and 5 if you have Windows 10 Home since it doesn't have the Group Policy Editor
6) Navigate to: Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update
7) Double click on " Do not include drivers with Windows Updates" then set that rule to Enabled
8) Exit the Group Policy Editor
9) Download the Killer Uninstaller tool
10) Right click on it and choose Run as Administrator
11) Reboot
12) Download the Disable automatically installing suggested apps.reg then double click on it to merge it with your registry
13) Download the Turn off suggested apps install.bat then right click on it and choose Run as Administrator
14) Reboot
15) Now proceed to install all your drivers, the usually recommended order is: Chipset Drivers > Graphics Drivers > Audio Drivers > LAN > WLAN > Bluetooth > etc.
16) When you reach the point where you want to install the LAN/WLAN driver, I recommend you go to Device Manager then right click on the network adapter, right click on it, choose Update Driver, then point it to where you extracted the INF Drivers that you downloaded earlier. That way, we only have the Driver and none of the Killer Software components and services.

For Dell Machines or other OEM single package installers, don't blindly click next when install the LAN, WLAN driver, carefully uncheck any driver that does not pertain to your hardware and also ensure you are not selecting any Killer Software component as shown in the below illustrations:











Result: After running Windows Updates, you will only get Windows updates and not any driver updates and the Killer Control Center will no longer be installed automatically by the Windows Store



===========================================================
Additionally, you can also run the Windows Update Hide Tool and run it BEFORE you check for updates, if it did find an update for the Killer Networking card(s), simply hide it and it won't be offered again!



Imagine the millions of people out there who are suffering from slow internet speeds not knowing what the heck is going on with their brand new shiny laptop with Killer Hardware!

The only thing that Killer Software does, is Kill your bandwidth! All this fluff they talk about bandwidth control, lower latency, lower ping rates, beat your enemies, bla bla bla, can go to heck!

Just to give you a real world example. If I don't have the Killer Networks extensions/app/services installed. Browsing to any website happens instantly, before I could blink my eye, the page is already loaded. If those extensions/services/control center was installed, it takes a couple of seconds before I actually see the webpage start to load. There is a huge lag.

 

We probably all bought the Killer AX1650 because it was the first AX WiFi 6 card released and we wanted to see what WiFi 6 was bringing to the table.
Had the Intel AX200 been available at the same time I'm sure most of us would have opted for it over the Killer AX1650.The AX1650 had a full months lead time over the AX200.
I have my Windows 10 x64 systems tweaked similarly to yours including 3 versions of Insider Previews.
Good drivers are essential to good hardware performance and the software that runs on it.

I suggest members bookmark Ultra Male's post!

 

100% I would never give a dime to that Killer company but as you said, it was available before the Intel card was. Also this guide is not just for us enthusiasts, it's for any poor soul out there with a Killer Network card

Anticipating next post from mr. Killer rep here to come and tell us how great the Killer Control Center is and how it makes me beat my enemies with the super low ping rates and latency

 

Just finished your tutorial (However I could not install the WLAN driver through the extracted INF folder cause Windows kept saying "I already have the latest drivers installed".
After all, I ran Windows Updates and here is what I get...



Edit : I never had such horrible speeds... I'm downloading half my previous results :'( Bruh

 

did you make sure you check the box which says disable driver updates through Windows Aero Tweaker? You simply cannot have that offered through Windows update if you did that and have installed the blocking driver through the Killer Software Uninstaller

 

Yes I did it, the installation process is locked to 0% and it gives an error after several minutes. So Aera Tweaker does its job. On the other hand, my bitrates got hit pretty badly, and I have lots of slow-downs, (12 Mo/s to 5 Mo/s while downloading from Uplay or Steam). I had 25 to 30 Mo/s before.

I ended up following these steps and it recovered my bitrate.
I still don't have any proposal from Windws update lol, so might work as well !

"1) Uninstall the Killer LAN using GeekUninstaller and don't let it reboot when prompted so you get the option to clean out the leftovers by GeekUninstaller
2) Do the same for the WLAN Killer Driver
3) Reboot
4) Uninstall the Intel Bluetooth Driver
5) Run the Killer Uninstaller as admin, let it search for any drivers, then clean the leftovers (the button underneath the scan) then reboot when prompted
6) Uninstall the Killer Software (the Microsoft Store app) from the start menu
7) Reboot into Safe Mode
8) Run NSUDO then hit browse and guide it to Windows\System32\regedt32.exe and hit launch to run REGEDIT as a Trusted Installer
9) In the reg editor, hit EDIT then FIND and type Killer then hit enter, every time you find a key, delete it then hit F3 to look for the next key
10) delete all reg keys related to Killer Software, you will find more than 20 (so much for that Killer Uninstaller heh?)
11) Reboot back into Windows in normal mode
12) Install the latest Killer LAN/WLAN/and Bluetooth then reboot but make sure you always hit CUSTOM and uncheck the Killer Software (last option)
13) Run the Killer Uninstaller again but this time hit the "Disable Killer from Windows Update" button. If you get a message saying unable to install blocking driver, ignore that for now it worked for me after a few reboots when I was online."


The added part here is to uninstall anything related to Killer throught Windows Safe Mode, which I did.

 

Thanks for this guide dude, i've been looking for something this accurate ever since i bought my laptop almost three years ago.
Freaking software ruined a lot of my time trying to understand why this and that was happening.
I don't need no bandwidth control yet they force it on you even when you install the drivers only version.

I had your same poor experience, gave it a try to their bloat application but at the end i disabled this crappy software.
Now i'm looking to do it the perfect way since you have posted this. I disabled their services but i wanna wipe all the crap out of this software lol.
Gamers don't need this kind of software, it gives more issues than anything. When i found out it was causing me huge lag and ping spikes in games, i was really pissed (i've posted something about this before in a Killer Networking thread).

Next on my list is Nahimic, stupid bloat that causes frametime issues unless you exit from it.
I only wish i had the right time to find the perfect Realtek driver to switch over from that mess, but this is another story.

Thanks again!

 

Excellent was just about to order the Intel card to get passed the fact the Killer control crap seems to be getting installed almost straight after I remove it. Will give this a go and report back. Thanks @Ultra Male

 

Even if you order the Intel card, don't forget you have the Killer Ethernet port built into the laptop, there is no escaping from this crap without this guide.

 

Forgot about that...... hopefully this guide will sort me out. Thanks again

 

This is a little bit exaggerated ;-) I have Killer Wireless 1550 card which came with Dell. At first I though I would have issues but I actually do not have any. The only thing I removed was Control Center. There are some services still running in background but they have 0 interference on any games I have played and my internet speed is just as good as with laptop with Intel 9260 card:
https://www.speedtest.net/result/8644849423

Only minor annoyance is that I had to download drivers from Rivet's site and not from Intel. So yea, I personally see no need to disable any Windows updates for this card (Windows does not install anything else after I uninstalled Control Center and installed latest drivers from Rivet's site). Of course we are talking about Intel-based card so older cards might be different.

 

I mean if you removed Control Center it’s now literally just a standard 9260ac now. So basically you agree with us . That Control Center and associated services are literally the only difference between a stock 9260ac and 1550, they don’t touch the drivers, those are just stock Intel drivers anyway with the Killer identifier/ID added in drivers which Killer installer checks for before allowing you to install the Control Center. All the rage is focused on the Killer software and the fact that it auto installs unless you use the blocking driver which at times fails to actually “block”, not the actual Intel card itself.

Also you definitely can use drivers from Intel’s site as they are pretty much the same and you can therefore also use drivers on Killer site on the non Killer branded version of the 9260ac. Sometimes Intel provides Killer with newer drivers (probably using Killer customers as free beta testers) before deploying to their own site for the 9260ac.

 

I removed Control Center using Windows "Remove Programs" feature but I did not remove anything else and did not disable Windows updates for anything ;-) There are still a couple of services running in background, they just don't affect the speed or ping times.

 

Thank you so much!!!!!!! Was able to block windows update from the infernal killer software. Had to upgrade to pro via an old windows 8 pro license key but it was worth it. No need to clean install thankfully.

 

I finally thought it was over but it isn't. I might have to start with an entirely clean install of windows. I tried, again from the very beginning and there's no windows update software installed but there's alienware updates installed through their command center. I don't get the apps back but probably something else from killer that is doing this. Everytime I attempted this I'll get the update notice from the alienware command center. It's a very small update and it doesn't say what it is. This leads to the familiar problems that I thought I was getting around by buying the Intel card. At least I have that killer network page still in my phone every few days I loose connection to the network and internet. I haven't bothered with their tech support since they always want to install the killer apps and adjust some settings. Oddly enough my brother's m17 that has all the killer garbage is perfectly fine and he doesn't have any issues.

To those who are saying this is no big deal how would you feel if every few days for no reason your network connection went down and you had to do the following just to temporarily get it back:

a: command prompt, run as admin
b: netsh winsock reset
c: netsh inti ip reset
d. ipconfig/release
e. ipconfig/renew
f: ipconfig/flushdns
g: restart your computer
h: test to see if issue is resolved (if it is it's just for a few days)
i: enjoy your computer that randomly looses connections

 

@Killer_Networking , not sure if you still are checking here, but if so could you please help @Bloodroses with his current issues? Thank you for all of your help in the past and now as well

 

Killer Intelligence Engine
Rivet Network is adding some AI to the Killer Intelligence Engine
https://hothardware.com/news/rivet-networks-killer-intelligence-engine-ai-power-wi-fi
https://www.killernetworking.com/technologies/killer-intelligence-engine/

 

More bloat....

 

The best thing that update does is alert users to old technology so they can pinpoint the bottlenecks to their slow throughput.

IDK how useful picking between a group of access points will be for most people, but in corporate settings it might avoid that annoying pairing with distant access points vs local ones that respond slower due to it being busy at that exact moment your device is looking for a connection.

I already use tools to view all that stuff in a corporate setting, and in busy residential zones, but I don't promote accessing lots of public wifi as it's not "safe" so I couldn't suggest using that new Killer software to pick the best public access point.

Problem is most people are stumped by the simplest requirements to set up software for networking before using it. Killer's a good example.

All you had to do was to set the expected DL/UL speeds to get good Killer performance - or run the automated measurements to get good numbers once - but most people don't know about that and left it blank.

Killer's software didn't treat that situation smartly early on and Killer garnered a reputation for needing to have their software uninstalled. I wouldn't be surprised if that starts happening again with this AI software if it initially causes more problems than it solves.

Killer software always worked fine for me because I read the instructions for tuning it up before using it.

@Killer_Networking added in case they want to respond...

 

Software that makes things better isn't bloat, and bloat is a overly used term for too many problems anyway.

The original term was used to indicate add-on applications installed by vendors to increase revenue - due to very small margins on competitive market tiers - not for driver software and application software added features.

Just saying "bloat" without explanation encourages people to do the same in the rest of their lives - insults and name calling vs working their problems out with reasoned discourse.

I hope we can be better than that, with a little more effort.

 

You make a valid point, I should have expanded on my comment rather than simply saying "bloat". My reasoning is as follows:

They hyped their so called "intelligent" prioritization engine, which already caused Dell forums to be swamped with connectivity complaints......Un-necessary overtweaking and complications can make things worse. I have played around with settings to "optimize" but its still pretty terrible in my experience at least. Also the average user either doesn't know enough to tweak this stuff or just wants something to work out of the box. If something isn't broke don't fix it, for most people I've dealt with they had issues after buying laptops with this not before in terms of connectivity. 3 of my family laptops had DPC latency issues because of it set aside connectivity/throughput issues. It's stuff like this coming installed on machines by default that gives PCs/Windows a bad a rep. It's also even worse that you need to have a blocking driver just to prevent auto installation of the stuff.


I've seen their marketing video which shows very uncommon situations, as a reason for their Killer Engine to be used. Like a download, a video, a game and some other stuff all running in parallel. If it was that good we would be using it in enterprise, but instead it's just a very gimmicky narrow use case app that so for has shown me that it has a potential to do more harm for many, than good. Just my personal opinion of course.

 

@Killer_Networking added in case they want to respond...

Yup, I agree, their heart is in the right place, but more experienced network engineers or applications developers / driver developers / UI developers are really needed to make something like this blossom into the cool features and tools they might someday become.

And to be fair, for the most part such services and features developed "on the cheap" are "bloatware" because they are poorly implemented, tested, and have fewer resources than necessary for a truly useful implementation to be realized.

Killer seems to be putting more thought and resources into the problem even though they keep missing the point often enough to be annoying - most users don't care enough to learn what they need to learn and the rest of us already have what we need and find such implementations lacking enough to disable them.

I would be disappointed to discourage any development that shows long term effort that might pay off someday if they keep at it.

 

Check this, I was tweaking someone's computer 2 days ago. He just bought a brand new Alienware Area-51M and he specifically configured it with the Intel WLAN card so he won't have to deal with the Killer Software that he read on many forums.

When I logged in to his laptop, the first thing he said, before I even start the tweaking session, he was like man my internet speed is down down from 300MBPS to around 125MBPS I am going nuts what to do, I reboot my router, updated the firmware, reset it back to default but the speed is very low.

I'm like, give me a moment, I went into services.msc, disabled the Killer Networking Service and Killer Bandwidth Control Service and ran a speed test. BOOM, FULL SPEED!

He was shocked! He was like but I don't have Killer I ordered an Intel WLAN card! I said yes buddy, but you have a Killer LAN E3000 built in the laptop so Windows update will still download and install the Killer App via the Windows Store and add those services too!! (like a virus!)

Just to show you guys how this is affecting users worldwide on a very wide status and your average Joe has no clue what Killer is or what's going on here. They would probably just return the laptop and say it's not working right.

if someone orders and Intel WLAN card instead of Killer to avoid the Killer BS, it doesn't guarantee it since the LAN card might be Killer and that cannot be changed so he'd have to get an entirely different model

@WhatsThePoint @hmscott @Papusan @downloads

 

And failing windows activations.

 

So true, I remember how the Alienware Forums were flooded with threats about not being to activate their new machines, the moment they disabled the Killer Services, everything worked fine. Killer Networking Services = Worse than a virus as its camouflaged.

 

Killer Software Uninstaller v1.0.2020.0212

 

Another poor victim of the Killer Networking junk, he was not able to solve this connectivity issue for a month! I simply told him to disable the Killer service and VOILA! He was shocked how it worked! See: https://www.reddit.com/r/Alienware/...p_getting_this_on_everything_i_try_to_log_in/

 

In case someone notices CPU spikes to 100% after installing Killer drivers and app 2.x supported on all Killer WLAN/BT.


They have added Killer Analytics and Smart AP selection (aka Roaming aggressiveness handover from hardware to SW layer).
Rivet DCH extension are part of Killer Driver suite UWP and not downloaded by Win updates since I've blocked win updates.

 

I recently checked on their website for updates, once again they proved why i don't bother running more than one update a year for their bloatware. They manage to add more junk day by day. Been cleaning their messy apps and drivers since 2017.

 

Hello, I am setting up my new laptop which comes with a Killer Wireless Network Adapter (NC-1550) and a Killer E2500 Gigabit Ethernet controller.

I am not sure if it is because I've disabled automated driver updates (I guess I might be in the 10% who doesn't have a super fast internet connection all the time, and even need to be on metered connection relatively often, so auto-download is a no-no for me), but so far I haven't had the control center shoved into my laptop, nor do I see any Killer related service.

However, in the interest of having up to date drivers (provided they aren't problematic), I had a look at their website, and found that they have two "driver only package". One called "Killer drivers installation", which I assume is an executable, and "Killer INF Package" to manually update via the device manager. Oddly enough, they haven't updated the INF package is released a whole 10 months later, and comes with newer driver whilst they didn't bother to update the installation package. Anyway, I was just wondering if it would be safe to update my driver with either.

 

You can use either, in fact why not just go to the Intel website for drivers. I mean the 1550 is just a 9260ac and the same drivers are provided by Killer anyway, that's what I do for my sister's laptop.

Only time I would use the Killer site for drivers is when sometimes Intel's beta drivers are there, because, Intel generally does not post beta drivers on their own site.

Also sometimes you may see even newer Intel drivers posted on sites from Windows 10 test versions like 20H1, just note that just because they have a higher version number does not mean they are better, often it's probably just to test workability with the newer version of Windows and may not have ay real changes, and that's been my experience.

 

Thanks for this post. I just did the first part, uninstalling the killer software on my laptop. My download speeds jumped from a throttled 1.6 mbps to almost 15 mbps. Thank you!

 

This will be fun if Intel also will enjoy the tragic Killer software.

Updated: Intel buys Rivet Networks and its Killer Networking brand to beef up its Wi-Fi tech Pcworld.com | Today

Intel has bought Rivet Networks and its Killer Networking brand to supplement its own Wi-Fi capabilities and build a stronger platform to support its gaming CPUs.

 

Honestly would have been better if the branding just perished....

Well that was surprising, first they got bought by Qualcomm and now Intel, hopefully Intel can at least make it less trashy.

I assume they bought it mostly for branding, but maybe they can get rid off the junk software and differentiate with regular branded cards using actual hardware/driver tweaks oriented for low latency.

 

Sure

"Intel will continue to sell Rivet Networks’ software technologies and the Killer line of products to customers," an Intel spokesperson told Tom's Hardware. "Intel plans to continue the vast majority of Rivet Networks’ existing products and services. Some minor changes may be made after full evaluation in alignment with Rivet Networks’ customer commitments."
https://www.tomshardware.com/uk/news/intel-acquires-rivet-networks-killer

 

Ok maybe don't point that out lol let me be happy, I didn't read fully I felt better being ignorant. I'm gonna pretend I didn't read the last part about "continuing".

At the same time I feel its just normal to say that since they just acquired them and don't wanna hurt sales and they may actually start gutting and revamping the brand slowly or get vomited out eventually like the last time... at least I'm gonna pretend that's what will happen.

 

I think its a plan to cripple future AMD BGA 5000U/H which would have featured Killer based WLAN and 2.5Gbps ethernet. After this acquisition OEMs plan to include AMD CPU/GPU might get stalled since most of them will go for Killer Branded products rather than stock Intel WLANs.
Yesterday, I saw BT drivers for 1535 and older are absent from killer website and even including WLAN/Ethernet drivers. It seems aside from Intel branded Killers every other cards are EOL.

 

Would be nice get an explanation from @Killer_Networking about this. Nice first move. This will be equal Intel’s screw up for a bit older iGPU’s. No new drivers and we have Win 10 as services.

 

So I'd need to rely on Dell or station-drivers or ath-drivers.eu unofficial drivers.

 

If Intel do the same as they did for older graphics card, you haven't many other choices/or buy the newer card. I don't like the direction.

 

Hmmm. I might have to check qualcomm WLAN/BT cards. Not gonna waste time with Intel/Killer cards.

 

This is an opportunity for Broadcom and Realtek to step up their games and provide alternative solutions that don't completely suck.

 

Or even Qualcomm OEM WLAN/BT cards. I always had better luck with Qcomm which can catch better signal even in the corner than Intel, Realtek or Broadcom.
In LoS, Broadcom, Realtek and Intel(non-Killer) performs staggering quicker than Qcomm.

 

Broadcom isn’t as good these days vs the competition, and they’re kinda bad at implementing extras like MU-MIMO, OFDMA etc, they usually have a bigger lag period than Intel or Qualcomm getting the extra features right or at least in a functional enough manner that doesn’t ironically hurt performance by enabling them... Not to mention worse drivers as well, same goes for Realtek.

The Killer purchase isn’t going to magically create an opportunities for BCM or Realtek, satornoku, because Killer never made any hardware or drivers in the first place. They’re just a glorified QoS software company essentially. A lot of the purchase I can assume was about the branding which to the layman seems impressive but those with more networking/tech experience seem to actually detest Killer. From Anandtech to other in depth tech review sites most of the comments section was filled with people deriding Killer with some even hoping Intel would eventually shutter the brand, when I last saw.

 

I hope Intel don't integrate WLAN/BT into PCH itself for their 14nm++++ and 10/7nm products and integrate Killer across hardware level for all network stacks. It'll be bad news for AMD based gaming laptops.

 

Just when we though our Killer problems are coming to the end since Intel bought Killer.....
*drum roll*

.
.
.
.
.
.
Intel® Killer Performance Suite



@Aivxtla @saturnotaku @Papusan @Vasudev

 

You know Intel promote Intel® Killer for all its worth vs AMD? Nice with a new bloated package And you'll get it as Beta package in same way as for their Intel graphics drivers.

 

Yikes! My laptop's Killer 1650 (Intel 200) has been very happy since I removed all of the KIller software and installed Intel drivers.

 

Intel basically said to Killer SW haters F*** you! We renamed it to Intel "Killer" Suite. I Hope this won't ruin Intel in long term and in turn make events where WLAN chip will be soldered or super-glued by OEM to prevent upgrades since Killer is gone and Intel will be the one left. I think AMD is making BGA WLAN from MediaTek chips.
I really thought we might get better FW updates for Killer 1535 on Linux after Intel took over. I don't want Killer extensions running on Linux anyway!

 

Intel has more engineering resources than Killer could ever dream of, so perhaps there is hope that the re-branded software will end being a non-entity at worst and perhaps somewhat decent at best.