Disable CD and DVD Autorun in Windows XP

Windows XP contains a feature which automatically runs the software on a CD or DVD loaded into an optical drive on your computer. This is designed as a convenience, but can have the unintended consequence of loading or executing programs on your PC without your permission. Microsoft developers have created what they call a PowerToy -- an unsupported but free piece of software you can install, which allows you to easily disable autorun on your optical drives.

Steps

  1. Visit the Microsoft Windows XP Powertoys Page and download TweakUI.
  2. Run TweakUI. Go to the Start menu, select programs, and look for a folder called PowerToys.
  3. Expand the My Computer menu by clicking on the + to left of My Computer
  4. Expand the Autoplay Menu
  5. Select the Drives menu, and deselect the optical drives on your computer. To do this, click on the checkbox so that the checkmark goes away.
  6. Select the Types Menu and deselect the Enable Autoplay for CD and DVD Drives option.
  7. When you insert CDs or DVDs into your PC now, they will not run automatically. Go to the My Computer folder to view these drives and their contents.

To disable autorun.inf and autoplay just download and run disable.reg and add key to the registry.

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping\Autorun.inf] @="@SYS:DoesNotExist"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer] "NoDriveTypeAutoRun"=dword:000000FF

Tips

  • For a simple "one-time" disable of autorun on a Windows PC, hold down the shift key as you insert a disc into the PC. This will disable autorun for this instance only. Open My Computer, hold down the shift key as you insert the disc, watch for the icon to appear in the window, and wait for the drive to spin down.

Warnings

  • The TweakUI powertoy enables you to make major changes to the way your operating system functions. Be very cautious experimenting with any functionality other than disabling autorun.
  • These utilities, offered free by Microsoft, are unsupported.

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