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It is possible to use autorun.inf on a CD rom to make it run an exe without prompting the user but the same is not possible on a USB drive. Why? If its possible, how? On a USB drive it just prompts the user to select an action.

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I've voted to close and migrate to SuperUser as you may find some more info on this over there. From a SysAdmin perspective having it disabled permanently is a very good thing as per @devicenulls answer but as the recent Stuxnet outbreak proved there are still many business systems out there where Autorun on USB drives can be lethal. – Helvick Dec 19 '10 at 16:56
Helvik: I agree. Wasnt aware of the Superuser site. Its really confusing with all the sites coming up. Difficult to keep track of what questions to ask where. Something for the Admins to chew on? – Bobby Alexander Dec 20 '10 at 7:24
Actually Super User has been around for more then a year, even before Area 51 or Stack Exchange started. – Diago Dec 21 '10 at 7:49
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migrated from serverfault.com Dec 20 '10 at 23:13

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This has been disabled in modern versions of windows (7, vista, etc) due to security issues. There's no way to make autorunning exe's anymore.

The issue was viruses being spread via "found" flash drvies. This is far less likely to occur with cdroms, so the restriction is only for flash drives.

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So there is no way to do this even with CD ROMs in Win7? I think I remember the Windows 7 installation CD automatically launching setup when I inserted the CD (in Windows 7). – Bobby Alexander Dec 20 '10 at 7:20
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