Turn Off the CD-ROM Autorun

When an Autorun-enabled CD-ROM is inserted into a CD-ROM drive, Windows automatically launches the program contained on the disk, whether you want it to or not. Similarly the audio CD player pops up whenever you insert an audio CD and starts playing it immediately. This is cute the first or second time, but soon gets infuriating. What's worse, is that if you double-click on the your CD icon in My Computer, the autorun fires up, instead of a folder window as you'd expect. This is especially irritating on slower computers, where you have to wait for what seems like an eternity for it to load some ridiculous welcome screen. Here's how to do it:

Any OS

• If you hold down the Shift key when inserting the CD, the autorun is bypassed. (although it's not exactly graceful trying to insert a CD while holding down keys on the keyboard.)

Windows XP - Solution 1

• Right-click on the drive icon for your CD drive, CD recorder, or DVD drive, and select Properties.
• Choose the AutoPlay tab, and choose the desired action for each type of CD. For example, choose Music CD, then click Select an action to perform, then select Take no action.

Windows XP - Solution 2

• Obtain and install TweakUI (part of the PowerToys for Windows XP package), and then start TweakUI.
• Expand the My Computer branch, then the AutoPlay branch, and then select Drives.
• Turn off the checkbox next to each drive letter for which you want AutoPlay disabled.

Windows 2000/XP

• Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
• Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom.
• Double-click the Autorun value, and type 0 for its value. (If it's not there, create it by selecting Edit -> New -> DWORD Value, and typing "Autorun" for its name.)
• You may have to log out and then log back in for this change to take effect.

• Note: With this solution, Windows will no longer be notified when you insert a new CD. To make sure the correct icon and title for the current CD are displayed in My Computer and Explorer, press F5 to refresh the window.

Windows 95/98/Me - Solution 1

• Right-click on the My Computer icon (or whatever you've renamed it - hopefully something less cute and more meaningful than "my computer," such as "Bart"), and select Properties.
• Choose the Device Manager tab.
• Open the CD-ROM branch, and select the entry for your CD-ROM drive.
• Click Properties, and then choose the Settings tab.
• Turn off the Auto insert notification option.
• Click OK, and then OK again. You'll have to restart Windows for this change to take effect.

• Note: With this solution, Windows will no longer be notified when you insert a new CD. To make sure the correct icon and title for the current CD are displayed in My Computer and Explorer, press F5 to refresh the window.

Windows 95/98/Me - Solution 2

• Run the Registry Editor (REGEDIT.EXE).
• Open HKEY_CURRENT_USER\ Software\ Microsoft\ Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer.
• Change the Value of NoDriveTypeAutoRun from 95 00 00 00 to BD 00 00 00.
• You might have to restart Windows for this change to take effect.

• Note: With this solution, Windows will no longer be notified when you insert a new CD. To make sure the correct icon and title for the current CD are displayed in My Computer and Explorer, press F5 to refresh the window.

Windows 95/98/Me - Solution 3

• Because of new features in TweakUI, this can now be truly disabled by turning off the Play audio CDs automatically and Play data CDs automatically options in the aptly-named Paranoia tab.
• Also, make sure that the AutoInsertNotification option is turned back on - see Solution #1 above for more information.

• Note: With this solution, Windows will still be notified when you insert a new CD, so you may not want to do this if you use CD Recorder software (the constant polling can interrupt the recording process).