clipped from winhlp.comAutoplay after inserting a CD or DVD
General
The two most common complaints about autoplay are that it works when it shouldn't and that it doesn't work when it should.
I want to shut it off
To shut it off globally for all CD and DVD drives, use Start, Run ..., regedit to navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SYSTEM
\CurrentControlSet
\Services
\Cdrom
REG_DWORD value: Autorun
Change this value from 1 to 0.
Of course, changing it back to 1 will re-enable autorun.
To change Autorun for a particular CD or DVD drive, right-click on the drive in Windows Explorer and use the Autorun tab.
There is a second registry key that affects the autorun function in Windows Vista and possibly also in Windows XP. It can occur twice, once for each user and once for the entire machine.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
\Software
\Microsoft
\Windows
\CurrentVersion
\Policies
\Explorer
REG_DWORD value: NoDriveTypeAutoRunHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\Software
\Microsoft
\Windows
\CurrentVersion
\Policies
\Explorer
REG_DWORD value: NoDriveTypeAutoRunHexadecimal B5 or decimal 181 indicates that Autorun is off, while hexadecimal 91 or decimal 145 indicates that Autorun is active.
The meaning of these values is:
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0x1 | Disables Autoplay on drives of unknown type. |
| 0x4 | Disables Autoplay on removable drives. |
| 0x8 | Disables Autoplay on fixed drives. |
| 0x10 | Disables Autoplay on network drives. |
| 0x20 | Disables Autoplay on CD-ROM drives. |
| 0x40 | Disables Autoplay on RAM drives. |
| 0x80 | Disables Autoplay on drives of unknown type. |
| 0xFF | Disables Autoplay on all types of drives. |
The actual value is the sum of the selected values. The default value is 0x95.
Autorun, Autoplay
General
There are two different kinds of autorun, also called autoplay, that are technically quite distinct. One is that some programs run on their own after your computer is booted and a user logs on. This is sometimes called autostart or autorun.
The other is that some programs are automatically loaded when you insert removable drive media like a DVD or some other removable storage. This is usually called autoplay or sometimes confusingly also autorun. Let's deal with this first.
Autoplay after inserting a CD or DVD
General
The two most common complaints about autoplay are that it works when it shouldn't and that it doesn't work when it should.
I want to shut it off
To shut it off globally for all CD and DVD drives, use Start, Run ..., regedit to navigate to the following key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\SYSTEM
\CurrentControlSet
\Services
\Cdrom
REG_DWORD value: Autorun
Change this value from 1 to 0.
Of course, changing it back to 1 will re-enable autorun.
To change Autorun for a particular CD or DVD drive, right-click on the drive in Windows Explorer and use the Autorun tab.
There is a second registry key that affects the autorun function in Windows Vista and possibly also in Windows XP. It can occur twice, once for each user and once for the entire machine.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER
\Software
\Microsoft
\Windows
\CurrentVersion
\Policies
\Explorer
REG_DWORD value: NoDriveTypeAutoRunHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
\Software
\Microsoft
\Windows
\CurrentVersion
\Policies
\Explorer
REG_DWORD value: NoDriveTypeAutoRunHexadecimal B5 or decimal 181 indicates that Autorun is off, while hexadecimal 91 or decimal 145 indicates that Autorun is active.
The meaning of these values is:
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0x1 | Disables Autoplay on drives of unknown type. |
| 0x4 | Disables Autoplay on removable drives. |
| 0x8 | Disables Autoplay on fixed drives. |
| 0x10 | Disables Autoplay on network drives. |
| 0x20 | Disables Autoplay on CD-ROM drives. |
| 0x40 | Disables Autoplay on RAM drives. |
| 0x80 | Disables Autoplay on drives of unknown type. |
| 0xFF | Disables Autoplay on all types of drives. |
The actual value is the sum of the selected values. The default value is 0x95.
