How to Disable AutoRun or AutoPlay in Windows Operating Systems

Here i am writing about the methods to disable AutoRun feature in Microsoft Windows Operating Systems. To know more about AutoRun, See this post: What is AutoRun or AutoPlay and How to Set it?. If you want to make an AutoRun CD or Pen Drive yourself, just visit this page: How to Make a AutoRun CD or DVD Using Autorun.inf. To disable Autotrun or Autoplay features, there are multiple methods. Methods may also be different for different versions of Windows operating system.

Disable AutoPlay on Windows 8 or 8.1

• Open Start Menu
• Goto PC Settings (gear icon).
• got PC and Devices
• Select AutoPlay
• Click on the ON or Off Toggle button to turn it off.

Disable all Autorun features in Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista

To disable all AutoRun features in Windows Server 2008 or Windows Vista, you may use either of the following methods. These two methods works only if you have had some updates for your Windows. If you have not updated yet, you have some other options below these.

First Method

• Click Start
• type Gpedit.msc in the Start Search box
• Hit ENTER.
• If you are asked for an administrator password or for confirmation, enter the password, or click Allow.
• Goto Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components
• click Autoplay Policies.
• In the Details pane, double-click Turn off Autoplay.
• Click Enabled
• Select 'All drives' in Turn off Autoplay box to disable Autorun on all drives.
• Restart the computer.

Second Method

• Click Start.
• Type Gpedit.msc in the Start Search box
• Hit ENTER.
• If you are prompted for administrator password or for confirmation, enter the password, or click Allow.
• Goto Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components.
• Click Autoplay Policies.
• In the Details pane, double-click Default Behavior for AutoRun.
• Click Enabled
• Then select Do not execute any autorun commands in the Default Autorun behavior box to disable Autorun on all the drives.
• Restart the computer.

Disable AutoRun in Windows Server 2003, Windows XP Professional, and Windows 2000

XP and Server 2003

• Click Start -> Run
• Type Gpedit.msc in the Run box and click OK. 
• Navigate to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System.
• In the Settings pane, right-click Turn off Autoplay, and click Properties.

Windows 2000

• Proceed a in XP (as shown above).
• In Windows 2000, it may be seen as Disable Autoplay instead of Turn off Autoplay.
• Click Enabled, and select All drives in the Turn off Autoplay box.
• Click OK to close the Turn off Autoplay Properties dialog box.
• Restart the computer.

Disable or enable all Autorun features in Windows 7 and other operating systems

This method is applicable for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP. You have to download one of the two simple files and run it. Download both and try both. Either of the one will work for you.

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9741395

http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9743275

Fix it by Editing the Registry

In this method, you are going to edit the system registry. Editing registry is a serious task. If you make mistake, you may even have reinstall the Windows OS in the system. So, if you are doing this be careful. Make sure that you are following these steps carefully.

1. Click Start, open Run
2. Type regedit in the run box, and click OK.
3. Locate the following entry in the registry and click it: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer\NoDriveTypeAutorun
4. Right-click NoDriveTypeAutoRun, and select Modify.
5. In the Value data box, enter 0xFF.
6. Click OK, and close Registry Editor.
7. Restart the computer.