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Tech Tips / Windows 2000 Professional / Hardware and Drivers

Control CD Autorun globally

By default, when you insert a CD in the system, Windows 2000 automatically tries to play the CD. The result is music with an audio CD or (usually) Setup for a data CD. For data CDs, the action is determined by 1) the Autorun.inf file in the root folder of the CD, and 2) the file's contents. Windows 2000 automatically parses Autorun.inf to determine which application, if any, to run automatically. In some cases you probably won't want to automatically run a CD. For example, you might want to browse the contents rather than start the program's Setup process.

You can bypass Autorun temporarily simply by holding down [Shift] when you insert the CD. If you want to disable Autorun altogether for all CD-ROM drives, you'll have to edit the registry. Open either Regedit or Regedt32 and open the branch HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom. The Autorun value determines whether or not Windows 2000 automatically plays CDs. Set the value to 1 to enable Autorun or 0 to disable Autorun. Close the Registry Editor and restart the system. Now, when you insert a CD, Windows 2000 won't take any action, so instead, you'll need to open the CD yourself. Open My Computer and double-click the CD-ROM's drive icon. Or, right-click the icon and choose AutoPlay.

Note: Please remember that editing your registry can be risky, so always have a verified backup before you begin.