Windows 7 - AutoPlay - Turn On or Off

Brink

How to Turn AutoPlay On or Off in Windows 7

Information

AutoPlay lets you choose which action or program to use automatically for different kinds of digital media when connected, such as music CDs or pictures from your digital camera.

When you turn AutoPlay on, you can choose what should happen when you insert different types of digital media into your computer. For example, you can choose which digital media player is used to play CDs.

When AutoPlay is turned off, you are no longer prompted by AutoPlay to choose what you want to do when you insert digital media into your computer.

This tutorial will show you how to turn AutoPlay on or off in Windows 7.

Note

When a CD/DVD disc is inserted or a USB drive is connected to your system, Windows looks in the root directory of the new disc or drive for a file named autorun.inf. If found, Windows executes the instructions (keys) in that file.

For more about: Autorun vs Autoplay – What’s the Difference?

In Windows 7, Vista, and XP, two important changes were made to help improve security:

NOTE: For more on this, see: AutoRun changes in Windows 7 - Security Research & Defense - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

AutoPlay will no longer support the AutoRun functionality for non-optical removable media. In other words, AutoPlay will still work for CD/DVDs but it will no longer work for USB drives. For example, if an infected USB drive is inserted on a machine then the AutoRun task will not be displayed. This will block the increasing social engineer threat highlighted in the SIR. The dialogs below highlight the difference that users will see after this change. Before the change, the malware is leveraging AutoRun (box in red) to confuse the user. After the change, AutoRun will no longer work, so the AutoPlay options are safe.
A dialog change was done to clarify that the program being executed is running from external media.

By default in Windows 7, Vista, and XP now, the only [Autorun] keys available for USB/removable drives are below. The rest of the keys are ignored.

label - This key is responsible for displaying a custom name (label) for a CD/DVD or USB drive in Computer when a CD/DVD is inserted or a USB drive is connected.
icon - This key is responsible for displaying a custom icon for a CD/DVD or USB drive in Computer when a CD/DVD is inserted or a USB drive is connected.

Warning

AutoPlay requires the Shell Hardware Detection service to be set to Started and Automatic to run.

EXAMPLE: AutoPlay pop-up
NOTE: These are just examples of the AutoPlay pop-up dialog that you will see when you connect say a USB flash drive or a DVD. The options you have in the AutoPlay window will depend on what you connected or inserted, and what action you have selected for it in the AutoPlay settings below.

OPTION ONE

To Turn AutoPlay On or Off in Control Panel

1. Open the control panel (icons view), and click on the AutoPlay icon.

2. To Turn On AutoPlay
NOTE: This is the default setting.
A) Check the Use AutoPlay for all media and devices box. (see screenshot below)

B) In the drop down menu for each type of media or device, you can choose a default action to happen when these types are connected. (see screenshot below)

C) Go to step 4.

3. To Turn Off AutoPlay Completely
A) Uncheck the Use AutoPlay for all media and devices box. (see screenshot below)

4. Click on the Save button, and close the control panel. (see screenshot below)

5. You may also wish to check to see if you wanted to enable or disable AutoPlay and/or Enable AutoPlay for non-volume devices as well.

OPTION TWO

To Turn AutoPlay On or Off using a REG File Download

1. To Turn On AutoPlay
NOTE: This is the default setting.
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Turn_On_AutoPlay.reg

B) Go to step 3.

2. To Turn Off AutoPlay Completely
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
Turn_Off_AutoPlay.reg

3. Save the .reg file to the desktop.

4. Right click on the downloaded .reg file and click on Merge.

5. When prompted, click on Run, Yes, Yes, and OK to approve merging the .reg file.

6. You can now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

7. You may also wish to check to see if you wanted to enable or disable AutoPlay and/or Enable AutoPlay for non-volume devices as well.

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

dakota37 · 01-16-2012

I have trid that several times it still is a nogo.

DustSailor · 01-16-2012

Dakota,

Quote: Originally Posted by dakota37

I have trid that several times it still is a nogo.

Here you go: Unable to turn on Auto Run

nalbe · 02-26-2012

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers]
"DisableAutoplay"=dword:00000001

Brink · 02-26-2012

Thank you Nalbe. Added as OPTION TWO.

dakota37 · 02-26-2012

Quote: Originally Posted by nalbe

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers]
"DisableAutoplay"=dword:00000001

My regedit is version 6 and there is no DisableAutoplay in it.

Brink · 02-26-2012

Hello Dakota,

Having the DWORD DisableAutoplay either set to 0 or deleted has the same effect as turning on AutoPlay. Only when the DWORD DisableAutoplay is set to 1 will AutoPlay be turned off.

The current version of the regedit.exe file itself is 6.1.7600.6385, but when you export a entry from the registy then edit it, you'll notice that it does indeed show Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00.

dakota37 · 02-26-2012

Quote: Originally Posted by Brink

Hello Dakota,

Having the DWORD DisableAutoplay either set to 0 or deleted has the same effect as turning on AutoPlay. Only when the DWORD DisableAutoplay is set to 1 will AutoPlay be turned off.

The current version of the regedit.exe file itself is 6.1.7600.6385, but when you export a entry from the registy then edit it, you'll notice that it does indeed show Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00.

So if mine is deleted, as there is none in the registry means turned on then it still is not working. A blank disc or one that has something on it or a USB drive or flash drive, does not start automatically, which I want. Thanks for reply though. Anything else that I can try?

Brink · 02-26-2012

Dakota,

What you are describing sounds like AutoRun instead of AutoPlay. AutoRun is where, for example, the setup program will run automatically when you insert a DVD or USB flash drive.

Quote:

In Windows 7, Vista, and XP, two important changes were made to help improve security:

NOTE: For more on this, see: AutoRun changes in Windows 7 - Security Research & Defense - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

AutoPlay will no longer support the AutoRun functionality for non-optical removable media. In other words, AutoPlay will still work for CD/DVDs but it will no longer work for USB drives. For example, if an infected USB drive is inserted on a machine then the AutoRun task will not be displayed. This will block the increasing social engineer threat highlighted in the SIR. The dialogs below highlight the difference that users will see after this change. Before the change, the malware is leveraging AutoRun (box in red) to confuse the user. After the change, AutoRun will no longer work, so the AutoPlay options are safe.
A dialog change was done to clarify that the program being executed is running from external media.

If you did mean the AutoPlay type pop-up dialogs like in the example screenshots in the tutorial above, then try turning AutoPlay on using OPTION TWO first. Then check to see if you have the Ask me every time action selected in the AutoPlay control panel window for the media you want this for.

dakota37 · 02-27-2012

Quote: Originally Posted by Brink

Dakota,

What you are describing sounds like AutoRun instead of AutoPlay. AutoRun is where, for example, the setup program will run automatically when you insert a DVD or USB flash drive.

Quote:

In Windows 7, Vista, and XP, two important changes were made to help improve security:

NOTE: For more on this, see: AutoRun changes in Windows 7 - Security Research & Defense - Site Home - TechNet Blogs

AutoPlay will no longer support the AutoRun functionality for non-optical removable media. In other words, AutoPlay will still work for CD/DVDs but it will no longer work for USB drives. For example, if an infected USB drive is inserted on a machine then the AutoRun task will not be displayed. This will block the increasing social engineer threat highlighted in the SIR. The dialogs below highlight the difference that users will see after this change. Before the change, the malware is leveraging AutoRun (box in red) to confuse the user. After the change, AutoRun will no longer work, so the AutoPlay options are safe.
A dialog change was done to clarify that the program being executed is running from external media.

If you did mean the AutoPlay type pop-up dialogs like in the example screenshots in the tutorial above, then try turning AutoPlay on using OPTION TWO first. Then check to see if you have the Ask me every time action selected in the AutoPlay control panel window for the media you want this for.

Yes autoplay is what I want, but I don't seem to understand what to do to get it back. I have everything set at ask me first in the autoplay feature, but am lost as to how to edit the DVD drive. I read the instructions and still can't figure it out.

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