EisenGuide

Autorun allows programs to automatically start running when you place a CD/DVD in your optical drive.  While this is often a good thing (or at least neutral), if there is a malicious program on the CD/DVD, it too will automatically run.

If you disable autorun, programs will not automatically run when you insert a CD/DVD.  Rather, a dialogue box will open asking if you would like to run the program.  While a bit less convenient, it is more secure.

In order to disable autorun in XP/Vista you will need to edit the registry and, as always, it’s a good idea to back-up the registry before making any changes.  Click here for instructions on how to back-up the registry.

Here’s how to disable autorun in XP/Vista:

1.  In XP, click Start – Run (in Vista click Start and type “regedit” in the search box, click OK in the User Account Control warning box if that box opens).

2.  Go to the following Registry key:  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom

3.  Double-click on Autorun.  The default value is 1.  Change it to 0 (zero).

4.  Click okay.

5.  Click on File – Exit.

6.  Restart the computer.

Autorun is now disabled.  To enable autorun, follow the directions above, changing the zero back to 1.

Note that if you use Windows Explorer to view the contents of the CD/DVD and double click on the autorun.inf file, autorun will still run.  Don’t do that !