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I'm trying to find out whether or not Autorun is enabled on Windows 8 and 8.1 - an easy task one might think but I'm having trouble finding any definitive information. I believe it is enabled on Windows 8 but want to be certain.

Also, is there any way of finding out which Autorun keys are disabled/enabled for Windows 8? For example, I know that in Windows 7 only the label and icon keys are enabled.

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  • Autorun hasn't been enabled by default since Windows Vista. Because of the security concerns you have to enable it manually.
    – Ramhound
    Commented Oct 22, 2013 at 12:49

1 Answer 1

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Autorun and autoplay are two slightly different things:

  • Autorun automatically ran a program when a DVD or USB stick was inserted. Whilst a nice idea, it was a security risk (as the program could have been something nasty) and Microsoft eventually deprecated it.

  • Autoplay pops up when you put a DVD or storage device in and gives you a list of possible actions to perform - from running a program, to viewing the pictures on the disk to importing some files into another program.

To see what is enabled or disabled, open the Control Panel, search for "autoplay" and then click on the Autoplay entry. Under "Media", you'll be able to find the types of media that you can change the AutoPlay settings for.

If you want to disable it entirely, then this site provides you with steps to do this.

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  • Hey, thanks for the reply. So let's say I have a presentation I want to open automatically upon insertion of the USB. The only way this is possible now is if I manually select it on the Autoplay pop-up box that appears (if no manual changes have been made)? So in that case the only Autorun.inf commands W8 will take notice of are the icon and label commands, as in W7?
    – user612041
    Commented Oct 22, 2013 at 12:46
  • Yes to both of your questions!
    – Richard
    Commented Oct 22, 2013 at 12:48

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