Block the Autorun feature in Windows

Q I would like to stop the constant pop-up windows that appear when I plug in a USB memory key or insert a CD into my computer with Windows XP. I would either like to set an action or disable the messages altogether.

Neville Hall

A Although these messages can be helpful, they often get cluttered with suggestions for other software. There should be an option to ‘Take no action’ at the bottom (you may need to scroll down) and a check box to remember this option.

The easiest way to disable the messages with Windows XP is to use TweakUI, a utility made by Microsoft that can be downloaded. Once installed, start TweakUI and click on the small plus next to My Computer and then Autoplay on the left.

Click on the Types option beneath Autoplay and click in both boxes in the main part of the window to disable Autoplay for both removable drives (that means USB memory keys and USB hard disks) and CD and DVD drives.

One way to make Autoplay more useful is to set it to perform the same action without asking all the time. If the USB memory key is already plugged in, or you want to change the option for an optical drive, click on the Start button and then on (My) Computer.

Right-click on the icon for the drive and left-click on Properties. Click on the Autoplay tab. The main part of the window is used to select the action to perform and the top dropdown menu is to select the situation when the action will be taken. This either depends on the kind of files on the drive or, in the case of optical drives, for music CDs and films.

Select Mixed content in the dropdown menu and then Select an action to perform. Scroll down the list and left-click once on Open folder to view files or Take no action. Click on Apply to save the change. Repeat for other content types as required.

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