How do I *really* disable auto-play in Windows XP?

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For the newest version of TweakUI (2.10.0.0),
find autoplay this way:

On the left outline, click My Computer.
Under that, select AutoPlay.

You could uncheck individual drives, but
look at the Types setting first. Unchecking
just one box in Types may do the trick.

IMHO the Handlers item is useless.
Most of the entries cannot be deleted
and most of the details (file args and
wording) can't be changed either. I have
one entry that always appears on autoplay,
but the args are wrong, so it doesn't work.
TweakUI is no help for that one.

Another application I have that I like is "The Ultimate Troubleshooter" from Answers That Work (www.answersthatwork.com). It has a section for tweaking as well ... one of which is turning off CD auto-play.

Best option is to press one of the shift key while inserting thumb drive.

I'd like to thank you for saving my sanity by posting this information. The Auto-play window was running over and over on my daughter's computer and I could not turn it off. Each time it popped up, we were unable to type or use any other application whatsoever. I suspected spyware also.

I got on my laptop, googled "remove auto-play", found your site, downloaded TweakU and in the process I found that several media drives had been installed on her computer. I disabled autoplay on all of them, thanks to the TweakU program and also began running the anti-malware, anti-virues.. etc atc.

Before I found your site I was about to throw the computer in the pool. I've since bookmarked this site and I'd like to Thank You Very Very Much!!

I used TWEAK UI to switch of autoplay for CD/DVD and for removable devices. Under my computer - autoplay - types you can uncheck these two types of devices. It works fine. Thanks you very much.

It is safest to disable CD autoplay in XP using either local group policy or, for an enterprise, an Active Directory group policy. The local group policy editor method:

Click Start
Click Run
Enter GPEDIT.MSC
Group Policy mmc will popup. On left panel:
Double-click Computer Configuration to open submenu
Double-click Administrative Templates to open submenu
Double-click System to open submenu
Double-click Turn autoplay off option which will be near the bottom of the list in the right panel.

The default is the Not configured . Set it to Enabled.

In the steps above, if you wish to disable autoplay for all drives (e.g. usb drives/keys, etc), when on the last step select All Drives instead of CD-Rom drives.

Thankyou Jim Ekleberry! This was the type of answer I was looking for! Oftentimes, these settings are completely configurable without the need for external software! (Not that TweekUI is a bad program however) just that I am proud of you for giving truly professional advice! Indeed many programs exist to help you do things that windows already does (when you know how), and I'm in favour of all those who take the time to educate this to millions of people who would have otherwise paid for software they didn't need! So Bravo to you! (To Leo also, as generally his site is pretty good as a whole!) May the knowledge live on within those willing to share it!

Mr. Ekleberry... Thanks. I have to mirror the comment of JPaget. Using the tools provided (even if not well exposed) by MS would always be my preferred method as well. I never thought about it being a GP attribute. Too simple for once. Thanks!

Quoted from windowsnetworking.com:

"It is safest to disable CD autoplay in XP using either local group policy or, for an enterprise, an Active Directory group policy. The local group policy editor method:

* Click Start
* Click Run
* Enter GPEDIT.MSC
Group Policy mmc will popup. On left panel:
* Double-click Computer Configuration to open submenu
* Double-click Administrative Templates to open submenu
* Double-click System to open submenu
* Double-click Turn autoplay off option which will be near the bottom of the list in the right panel.

The default is the Not configured. Set it to Enabled."

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