One of the updates of yesterday’s patch day slipped through my grasps, mainly because I’m running Windows 7 and the update was not for that operating system. Ghacks reader Ilev let me know about it in the comments of my patch day overview guide Microsoft Security Bulletin Overview February 2011. Autorun has been a problematic [...]

Categories: Security, Windows

AutoRun enables devices and media to start programs automatically in the operating system. The feature should not be confused with AutoPlay which scans media and devices and suggests or launches appropriate actions automatically. Experts often recommend to disable AutoRun functionality for security reasons as the feature is exploited by malware to execute malicious code on [...]

Categories: Software, Windows

Sometimes you see the prompt “Do you want to scan and fix removable disk” when you connect a removable device to your Windows PC. This usually happens if the device was not properly disconnected from the system in a previous session. It is more of a “we assume there is a problem because last time..” [...]

Categories: Tutorials Basic, Windows

Have you ever opened multiple Youtube videos at the same time? The cacophony of sounds has probably been unbearable. Youtube videos start to play automatically, and there does not seem to be a restriction in the number of videos that can play at the same time. A user opening four videos simultaneously will make the [...]

Categories: Firefox, Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Opera, The Web

Microsoft have warned of a critical vulnerability in Windows Shell, caused when parsing .lnk shortcuts that can automatically launch a malicious program through use of a specially crafted shortcut. The vulnerability afcects all versions of Windows including XP and Windows 7.   On Windows 7 the exploit can bypass the operating system’s security as it does not [...]

Categories: Microsoft, Windows

Whenever I enter a blank CD or DVD in the drive I get an autoplay prompt. When I connect my laptop to the computer an autoplay prompt is shown. When I connect my digital camera an autoplay prompt is shown. Autoplay prompts can be helpful. You can for instance use them to always transfer photos [...]

Categories: Windows

One common strategy to infect a computer is to use the autorun information of a removable drive, most likely an USB device, to infect the computer as soon as the user double-clicks the drive. If the computer is protected by antivirus software the attack will most likely be stopped in its tracks but the manipulated [...]

Categories: Security, Windows

When you right-click a CD, DVD or removable drive and select Properties from the menu you find a Autoplay tab there that displays applications for certain media that are put into the drive. An action like playing or opening can be selected or that the user will be prompted every time a media of that type is inserted.

Categories: Operating Systems, Software, Tools, Windows

If you ever wanted full control over the Autplay feature of your Windows operating system you should take a look at the free software Autplay Repair which gives you excellent control over every aspect of Autoplay. Since there are different autoplay menus for different kind of media that are inserted you may select to remove, modify or add options for those menus. It is furthermore possible to disable the autoplay feature for drive letters. If your don’t want the autoplay feature for your CD writer you could disable it here easily.

Categories: Operating Systems, Tools, Windows