Disable AUTORUN.INF – To avoid USB flash drive viruses

Some people think that the autorun.inf file is a virus. Well it’s not. Autorun.inf is a system file used by operating systems like Windows to automatically run programs when a removable media like a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or a USB Flash is inserted. For the sake of convenience, software distributed on a disc can automatically start an installer when the disc is inserted using this feature.

  Unfortunately,this feature pose a security threat.When the user does not expect or intend to run the software, such as in the case of some viruses, which takes advantage of this feature to propagate. A feature in Windows has became a flaw?

Turning AutoPlay off is not a solution because when you open the drive from My Computer, Windows will still execute the instructions found in autorun.inf.

There is a difference between Autoplay and Autorun.Autoplay is when you insert a CD/DVD or USB flash drive,  you get a dialog box that ask you what do you want Windows to do.

As for autorun,it will run an executable file instructed by autorun.inf file. There is no chance for you to Cancel autorun at all

There are two ways to disable autorun.

1. Click Start->Run? or press the Window+R key on the keyboard to show the Run dialog box.

  2.   Type  regedit then hit Enter to execute the Registry Editor.

    3.On the left, panel double click the folders to expand and go to

              HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindows
        CurrentVersionPoliciesExplorer

   4.Once there,Check the right panel and double click the NoDriveTypeAutoRun registry key.

   5.  On the Value Data, type FF for Hexadecimal or 255 for Decimal value.

   6. Change the NoDriveTypeAutorun’s valueto255(orFF in Hexadecimal)

    7. Close the Registry Editor and restart the computer.

                                                OR

Here is the registry key that you should use to globally block autorun.inf. Open notepad or any text editor, copy the text below and save it as NoAutoRun.reg. Make sure the extension is .reg and not .txt. Run it and click Yes if you?re asked ?Are you sure you want to add the information in C:NoAutoRun.reg to the registry??

REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindows NTCurrentVersionIniFileMappingAutorun.inf]
@="@SYS:DoesNotExist"

The problem with this hack is that your installer CDs or DVDs will no longer launch the installer automatically.You have to explore it by hand to find the setup program which I think isn’t a big deal compared to being infected by virus and having to spend hours to scan and clean it.