If you didn’t know, Microsoft Windows does not allow you to autorun USB drives when they are inserted. The Windows Autorun capabilities are restricted to CD-ROM drives and fixed disk drives. No, there are no registry hacks to enable USB drives autorun feature because of security issues. Data theft is one security concern for example. The simplicity of reading and writing to basic USB drives and the reasonable amount of data they can hold makes them an ideal target for this.
Usually when you plug in your USB flash drive, you’ll get a notification asking you what would you like to do.
If your end “Explorer.exe” process, and you plug in your USB flash drive, you won’t even get the prompt. Usually computers that are used for giving exams won’t have “explorer.exe” loaded and that can prevent you from copying the exam data out.
Anyway, if you still would like to automatically launch the program of your choice on your USB Flash Drive everytime you plug it in your computer, then please continue reading. There is a way to make Windows autorun USB flash drives.
Since Windows does not allow flash drive to automatically auto execute any programs, we’ll turn to 3rd party software to do that. I found a few and here is what I have to say about it.
1. AutoRun USB
If you visit AutoRun USB official website now, they no longer offering free version of AutoRun USB. Their latest version of AutoRun USB is version 4 and it cost $4.99. But if you don’t mind using their first version of AutoRun USB, then you can use it for FREE. One thing I don’t like about AutoRun USB is it recognizes autorun.usb instead of autorun.inf. Why don’t they make it standard? You need to manually copy the autorun.usb from C:\Program Files\AutoRun USB to the root of your USB flash drive and edit it with notepad.
[ Download AutoRun USB v1.0 ]
2. BusRunner
If you think AutoRun USB is bad, this is even worst! First of all, I can’t find anything about BusRunner on the official website. Looks like they’ve removed it for good! Next, after installing BusRunner, I see an icon appear at your tray bar. When I plug in my USB flash drive, I can right click on the icon to set the default program to run when it’s plugged in. After I did that, I wasn’t able to safely remove my USB flash drive. I get the error message “Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device. The device ‘Generic volume’ cannot be stopped right now. Try stopping the device again later.” No matter how long I wait, I still won’t be able to safely eject my USB flash drive. The only safe way to eject my USB flash drive is to close BusRunner first, then only I am able to safely remove my USB flash drive. Oh, and BusRunner also doesn’t recognize Autorun.inf. It uses BusRunner.cfg file at the root of your USB flash drive.
[ Download BusRunner ]
3. APO USB Autorun
This is the best if compared with the first two software to can make Windows autorun USB flash drives. APO USB Autorun recognizes the standard autorun.inf (as used with CDs) and executes it. If you don’t know how to write autorun.inf file, this software includes an autorun.inf builder. In addition to the autorun functionality, the program also allows you to quickly access the files on the USB drive(s) from the tray icon menu. APO USB Autorun now comes with plugins to backup/restore folder upon drive insertion.
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Thank You for all the work you have done to post your learning and experience with Windows computers on your blog site. I have learned a great deal by following your advice and working with the software and information you have looked into and recommended after first checking it out and evaluating its performance, safety, and validity.
I don’t know if many people write just to say thank you, but I thought I should. I appreciate what you do and hope you continue for a long time.
warm regards,
Larry Holmes
Anyone have the list of original windows xp registry..
It could help me a lot thanks…
i need that for my project
Dear Raymond, did Orion send you the VB6 code he mention? I would be very interested in having a look at it. Thanks!
mira solo debes crear un autorun con el archivos de bloc de notas solo pones asi
[autorun]
open=”nombre del usb”
icon=”nombre del icono a poner”.ico
ejemplo:
[autorun]
open=juan
icon=automovil.ico
luego pones archivos guardar
y lo renombras asi
autorun.inf
le cabias y le pones “todos los archivos”
y luegos lo dejas en “ANSI”
lo guardas y listo lo puedes meter en tu usb
listo y facil……
Hi ,
I am college student . I want to represent my seminar . I want to show my topics when i plug my USB Flash drive in computer without touching keyboard , mouse .
So what software is to be used ?
Regards
Deepak kumawat
what
[...] Check it out! While looking through the blogosphere we stumbled on an interesting post today.Here’s a quick excerptIf your end “Explorer.exe” process, and you plug in your USB flash drive, you won’t even get the prompt. Usually computers that are used for giving exams won’t have “explorer.exe” loaded and that can prevent you from copying the exam … [...]
Ralph, I think you’re confused by AutoRun and AutoPlay. All USB will AutoPlay but won’t AutoRun.
YoGi, yes, I do know about U3. I have an article coming up about U3 USB flash drive.
Dear Raymond,
It’s very easy with windows sysinfo.ocx file to do any sort of autorun with any drive see the documentation of this file it can trigger a event when any externat drive is added then it is very easy to shell your desired path with that trigger. Let me know if you want to have an example. I have written a programme which shows the availabli diskspace when any usb drive is added and close automatically when the flash drive is removed.If you want I can give the code. Its in VB6.
Nice article Raymond.. By the way, you must have heard of U3 enabled pen drives by San Disk having this preloaded utility, which is far better then APO USB autorun coz u can install portable software on it which are essential for daily use. Though U3 works only on certain pen drives its a nice to use.
Chk out more at – u3.sandisk.com
Thanks.. :-)
This is strange because, all my USB drives autorun by default when I plug them into my Computer!
Dear Raymond,
“USBDLM is Freeware for private and educational (schools, colleges, universities) use only. Otherwise one licence per computer is required after a 30 day test period even though the software does not expire.”
Try it Raymond, I’m sure you’ll love it.
USBDLM is shareware?
The link for USBDLM uwe-sieber.de/usbdlm_e.html
I just tried USBDLM and it’s great, much better than any of the other alternatives.
Thank you mushu13 for that cool find.
[...] wrote an interesting post today on How to Make Windows Autorun USB Flash DrivesHere’s a quick [...]
Try out USBDLM. It is a Windows service that lets you assign a specific drive letter to a certain drive or a type of drive (Removable, Fixed, U3, etc.) It can hide specific drives, and autorun ANY drive. It requires some work to configure, but it is well worth the effort.
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