
Take No Action: AutoPlay will not activate when you insert a memory card.
Play (Windows Media Player): This will automatically play media files Windows finds on the memory card in the Windows Media Player app. Import Photos and Videos (OneDrive): This will copy the memory card’s photos and videos onto your OneDrive cloud storage space. Import Photos and Videos (Photos): This will automatically copy and import photos and videos stored on the memory card into your Windows 11 Photos app library. If you click that, you’ll see these options (and possibly others depending on which apps are installed): Just below that, you’ll see the “Memory Card” drop-drop menu. Ask Me Every Time: This will pop up a menu that asks you how you want to handle the newly connected drive. Open Folder to View Files (File Explorer): This will automatically open the removable drive you just connected in a File Explorer window. Take No Action: This means nothing AutoPlay-related will happen when you connect the drive, but you can still find it under File Explorer as usual. Configure Storage Settings (Settings): This takes you to Storage settings in the Windows Settings app. After the change, AutoRun will no longer work, so the AutoPlay options are safe.If you click the menu below “Removable Drive,” you’ll see the following options (and possibly others, depending on which programs you have installed. Before the change, the malware is leveraging AutoRun (box in red) to confuse the user. The dialogs below highlight the difference that users will see after this change. This will block the increasing social engineer threat highlighted in the SIR. For example, if an infected USB drive is inserted on a machine then the AutoRun task will not be displayed. In other words, AutoPlay will still work for CD/DVDs but it will no longer work for USB drives. ManyĬompanies use this functionality to help initiate their installers.Ĭhanges were made in Windows 7 and later to prevent malware:ĪutoPlay will no longer support the AutoRun functionality for non-optical removable media. This file (if available) specifiesĪdditional commands that will be displayed in the AutoPlay menu. During AutoPlay, the Autorun.inf fileįrom the media is also parsed. Purpose of AutoRun is to provide a software response to hardwareĪctions that a user starts on a computer.ĪutoPlay is a Windows feature that lets a user select which program starts when a specific type of media, such as music CDs, or DVDsĬontaining photos, is inserted.
What’s the difference between autoplay and autorun?ĪutoRun is a technology used to start some programs automatically when a CD or another media is inserted into a computer.