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PC911 > How-To > Windows > AutoRun

Disabling Auto-Run Feature

previous page: Autorun basics

 

How to disable AutoRun

You might want to turn off AutoRun, either because your CD-ROM drive is behaving funky, or you just don't want it to launch the CD you're about to insert into the drive. There are two ways of doing so.

The first method is permanent until you change it back again. Go to Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Device Manager and make sure View Devices by Type is selected. Double-click the CD-ROM line and note how it produces a new line underneath. This new line describes the type of CD-ROM you have. Double-click that new line and you should see the CD-ROM Properties window. Select the Settings tab and look for a checkbox labeled Auto Insert Notification. To disable AutoRun, uncheck this box, click OK twice until prompted to restart your PC, then do so. AutoRun is now disabled until you check that box again and restart your PC.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The second method is only temporary. To disable AutoRun just one time, open the CD-ROM drive drawer and place the CD in the drawer. Don't close it yet! Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and then close the CD-ROM drive drawer. Keep the Shift key held down for another 5-10 seconds after the drawer closes, then let go. The Shift key I mean. You'll notice that nothing will happen. But the next time you insert another CD, AutoRun will kick in again unless you hold down the Shift key again.

To stop only music CDs from running automatically, go to Windows Explorer, click the View menu and select (Folder) Options. Select the File Types tab and scroll until you see AudioCD. Highlight it and click the Edit button. In the resulting window, you'll see the word Play in the Actions box. It is bold if the AutoPlay feature is enabled. Click the Set Default button and Play will no longer be in bold. You're done.

How to enable AutoRun

If for some reason AutoRun doesn't work, do this: Go to Start/Settings/Control Panel/System/Device Manager and make sure View Devices by Type is selected. Double-click the CD-ROM line and note how it produces a new line underneath. This new line describes the type of CD-ROM you have. Double-click that new line and you should see the CD-ROM Properties window. Select the Settings tab and look for a checkbox labeled Auto Insert Notification. To enable AutoRun, check this box, click OK twice until prompted to restart your PC, then do so. AutoRun is now enabled.

If that did not work, some registry hacking is on the menu. Go to Start/Run, type Regedit and click OK to open the registry editor. Drill down the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ Explorer

Now look at the NoDriveTypeAutoRun key on the right. To enable AutoRun, right-click on that key, select Modify and change the value to 0000 95 00 00 00 and click OK. Now quit the registry editor and restart Windows for this to take effect.

The number 95 is a hexadecimal value and is the sum of all device types to disable AutoRun for. The values and devices are:

01h Unknown drive type
02h Drive without root directory
04h Removable drive
08h Fixed drive
10h Network drive
20h CD-ROM
40h RAM disk
80h (not yet specified device types)

By default, Windows disables AutoRun for not yet specified device types (80h), network drives (10h), removable drives (4h), and unknown drive types (01h). This adds up to, surprise, 95h which is the value mentioned above

Page 3: Autorun Tips and Tricks

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