How to Disable AutoRun feature in Windows Vista?

Previously, we had a discussion on how to disable autorun feature in Windows XP, as this feature might harm your computer. The reason we gave was that when ever you insert any removable media storage drive, such as a USB or a CD/DVD, you run into the risk of infecting your system without ever being knowing about the virus.

The only solution to this problem is to permanently disable autorun feature so it won’t create havoc for your system anymore. Although, Windows Vista has given the flexibility to disable this feature, which wasn’t as easy in case of Windows XP. Despite that, there are so many options which might confuse a user, especially a novice one; who don’t know which option to choose and which not to.

However, if you ever run into this confusion, just don’t panic! We have compiled a nice walk trough that will smooth out the process.

Disable Autorun feature in Windows Vista

Go to ‘Control Panel‘ and open it,

Under the ‘Hardware and Sound‘ menu click on ‘Play CDs or other media automatically‘,

Disable the first option that appears in the pop up window, which says; “Use AutoPlay for all media and devices“,

This will disable all the media storage devices, including USB drives, CDs/DVDs etc.

Select any feature to disable it

If you are looking for more control, you can selectively choose which option you want to disable, by first clicking the drop down menu at the right side of each option and then set it to ‘Take no action‘.

For instance, if you want to disable ‘DVD movies‘ from automatically running, you can set it to ‘Take no action‘ and then Save changes.

Disable Removable Flash Drives only

Perhaps you want to prevent your flash drives and not your CDs/DVDs. For this, you have to specify each file type that might exist in the flash while you plug-in and follow the same procedure mentioned above. For instance, most USB (Flash) devices contains ‘Audio and Video files‘ , ‘Pictures‘, ‘Software and Games‘ and most importantly, ‘Mixed content‘.

Window will automatically, detect and take appropriate action depending upon the files (file type) inside the USB. If you have any other Windows related issue, drop a comment and we’ll answers it.