Microsoft Finally Turns Off AutoRun in Vista, XP

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Status
Not open for further replies.
This is one of the things I always suggest and turn off for clients, but they always complain later about why "the computer doesn't play music anymore" weeks later when they've forgotten our conversation. ;D
 
Less convenience and more security, some people won't like it but in my opinion the extra step of opening my computer and then accessing the files are worth it instead of getting malware onto your PC because a friend couldn't keep his PC clean and something got into the drive.
 
I didn't even install it since I have autorun disabled to begin with and I didn't feel like making sure that it didn't affect my settings.
 
"Originally AutoRun was called "AutoPlay" and designed as a convenience for end-users in Windows 95, allowing them to automatically install programs from a CD, DVD or USB stick after insertion."

DVDs did not exist when Windows 95 was released. The DVD-ROM spec was finalized in December 1995. Neither did USB. USB support was added in Windows 98/2000.
 
[citation][nom]chickenhoagie[/nom]JS/Pornpop ..so I guess your computer CAN get STD's..interesting.[/citation]

You are kidding right? Pr0n is what pays the rent in some Mom and Pop operations.

After the scan gets to 100 different viruses or 1000 instances of the same virus, whichever comes first, call the customer. Let them know we won't warranty anything unless we Wipe and Reload. Yes, we will backup all your J-Pegs, at $65 a CD or $150 a DVD. Well yes you can take it home and do it yourself but we'll have to charge you again when you bring it in for the W&R.

(Most opt to forgo the backup, go out and get more porn and the cycle starts again. >:-D )
 
"And it would be odd to refer to AutoRun as a vulnerability."
Makes me want to laugh so hard I'd cry... Pure arrogance and stupidity in my opinion. Ever since the destructive capability of autorun became apparent, the US CERT highlighted it as a severe security risk, and it is. Anyone who uses USB drives on public computers and then inserts it into their computer at home was carrying a death sentence for their home PC if they didn't have autorun disabled. Microsoft's autorun update is a decade late to say the least, but at least now users making the most of their old OS won't have to reformat as often. I suspect Microsoft refused to disable autorun simply because it created a market for antivirus vendors.
 
[citation][nom]Djanarak[/nom]Anyone who uses USB drives on public computers and then inserts it into their computer at home was carrying a death sentence for their home PC if they didn't have autorun disabled.[/citation]
The moral of the story is, always use protection, never know what those public PCs are carrying 😛
 
I have disabled auto run already,but before I just checked the box to do nothing on insetion of any kind of media...I thought it should be up to the owner of the PC to decide what to do with autorun...
 
There was a power tools pack made by microsoft for winXP users that had an option to turn off auto-play/run, which I used for years. I never realized it was a security risk, I just hated the program because I don't want to do the same thing every time I insert media. Sometimes my CD is a sermon/speech that I don't want added to my library (or those silly Rosetta Stone discs that are rooted in there somewhere but I have yet to bother removing, but always manage to play when in random... but only when someone is near by). Some DVDs play better in VLC, others go to WMP, other times it is going to DVD decryptor, and yet other times I want to get at the data content and not the movie. And don't get me started on USB drives, they have a million uses, most of which require explorer, but some don't, and explorer is always up anyways so I don't need a menu to pop up asking if I want to open it!
 
[citation][nom]Haveyouactuallyusedwindows95[/nom]"Originally AutoRun was called "AutoPlay" and designed as a convenience for end-users in Windows 95, allowing them to automatically install programs from a CD, DVD or USB stick after insertion."DVDs did not exist when Windows 95 was released. The DVD-ROM spec was finalized in December 1995. Neither did USB. USB support was added in Windows 98/2000.[/citation]

Im not sure about dvd's i do remember they were announced to be on sale by end of 95 but didnt care. And um USB and IE 3.01 OR 4.01 (cant remember which) were added in 95 in revision C which was out before 98. Of course 98 did have native support from the getgo.
 
[citation][nom]Djanarak[/nom]"And it would be odd to refer to AutoRun as a vulnerability."Makes me want to laugh so hard I'd cry... Pure arrogance and stupidity in my opinion. Ever since the destructive capability of autorun became apparent, the US CERT highlighted it as a severe security risk, and it is. Anyone who uses USB drives on public computers and then inserts it into their computer at home was carrying a death sentence for their home PC if they didn't have autorun disabled. Microsoft's autorun update is a decade late to say the least, but at least now users making the most of their old OS won't have to reformat as often. I suspect Microsoft refused to disable autorun simply because it created a market for antivirus vendors.[/citation]
Exactly.

CYA on Microsoft's part if you ask me.

Just think how many lawsuits would be filed if Microsoft said something like, "We finally realized that AutoRun is a security problem, and it has seriously damaged some computers as well as taken hundreds of thousands of hours of time, cumulatively, from other users who had to clean or have cleaned their computers after encountering a malicious virus that exploited AutoRun."

Personally, I turned it off years ago. I find it a nuisance to have to respond to some dialog every time I stick a CD/DVD in my drive.
 
it was a race between the antivirus scanning the usb files and the trojan virus running automatically before it gets detected. and a lot of times the latter wins.
 
Now if they could only come up with a security patch to address blocking the most severe vulnerability - it's bundled and installed with so many other applications... a virus, known as Google.
 
I disabled WIndows years ago :-D
Now I don't worry about such things..
 
"CDs, DVD and USB drives with high-end security features will still AutoRun as before." = FAIL
And USB drives?
Why would you do that, it should be done too.
Because you can dress up a usb-stick to programmatically present itself as a USB drive.
 
[citation][nom]Haveyouactuallyusedwindows95[/nom]"Originally AutoRun was called "AutoPlay" and designed as a convenience for end-users in Windows 95, allowing them to automatically install programs from a CD, DVD or USB stick after insertion."DVDs did not exist when Windows 95 was released. The DVD-ROM spec was finalized in December 1995. Neither did USB. USB support was added in Windows 98/2000.[/citation]

Windows 95 did have usb support, if you had B or C versions of windows 95.
 
Hey, autorun don't kill pcs, viruses did. Most of the antiviruses today will scan and clean or block those nasty autorun infected files.
 
I always disabled the service; I knew the second day I had XP this feat would cause trouble!

Best autorun is either opening an explorer window, or do nothing at all!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom