The update for Windows Autorun has been available for some time. To be precise, it was first released on February 24 by Microsoft and originally made available from the Microsoft Download Center.

Yesterday changed that by offering the update via automatic updating through Windows Update. Affected are all Microsoft operating systems pre-Windows 7, including Windows XP, Windows Vista and the server operating systems Windows Server 2003 and 2008. Windows 7 is not affected as it already has the restrictions in place.

The update restricts AutoPlay functionality to “CD and DVD media”. This protects customers “from attack vectors that involve the execution of arbitrary code by Autorun when inserting a USB flash drive, network shares, or other non-CD and non-DVD media containing a file system with an Autorun.inf file”.

It basically blocks AutoPlay on all devices and media except CD and DVD media even if they contain an autorun.inf file.

Customers may experience several issues after applying the update, including:

• Many existing devices in market, and many upcoming devices, use the Autorun feature with the AutoPlay dialog box to present and install software when DVDs, CDs, and USB flash drives are inserted. The AutoPlay behavior with CD and DVD media is not affected by this update.
• Users who install this update will no longer receive a setup message that prompts them to install programs that are delivered by USB flash drives. Users will have to manually install the software. To do this, users click Open folder to view the files, browse to the software’s setup program, and then double-click the setup program to run the program manually.
• Some USB flash drives have firmware that present these USB flash drives as CD drives when you insert them into computers. The AutoPlay behavior with these USB flash drives is not affected by this update.

The update is only offered if it has not already been installed on the system. Additional information about the update are available at Microsoft’s Security Advisory and the blog post Deeper insight into the Security Advisory 967940 update by Adam Shostack.

Autorun Manager is a portable software for Windows that offers to disable AutoRun selectively for the logged in user or all users of the operating system.

The application displays more than 30 options to disable AutoRun for various devices and media in the Windows operating system.

Inexperienced users may have a hard time finding the right selection amongst the options, as only one option can be selected from the listing.

AutoRun can be disabled on the following devices and media:

• CD-ROM and DVD-ROM
• Removable Devices
• Network Drives
• RAM Disks
• Unknown Devices

Those options are displayed at the top of the listing. The remaining options are all combinations of the devices. It is for instance possible to disable AutoRun on all devices or only on network drives and unknown devices.

The application contains options to disable AutoRun completely (disable all), re-enable AutoRun again and to apply the settings to all users of the system.

AutoRun Manager is a handy tool as it simplifies the process of disabling AutoRun selectively on the system. The application is available for download at Ask VG.

The prompt displays two options to the user: Scan and fix (recommended) which will scan the disk for file system errors, or continue without scanning to ignore the prompt and start working with the device right away. Most users that I know are choosing the option to ignore the message and continue without scanning, as there is usually nothing to worry about.

If you search for do you want to scan and fix removable disk in an Internet search engine you find many users who see this message on a regular basis, and it does not really matter what they chose in the prompt, the message appears again on the next start. Most users however can work with the device properly no matter if they selected the scan and fix or the continue without scanning option in the notification window.

Options Scan and fix, and Continue without scanning are displayed

Some Windows users managed to get rid of the scan and fix notification whenever they connect a removable disk by making sure they always disconnect the device using the safely remove option. Here is how that is done. The safely remove media option is available as an icon in the system tray.

Just left or right-click on the icon to display a list of devices that can be safely removed from the operating system.

Disable Do You Want To Scan And Fix Removable Disk

The scan and fix message is powered by the Shell Hardware Detection service. If it runs the scan and fix messages are displayed. If it is stopped, they stop as well. Before you go ahead you should know that this will disable autoplay on the Windows system. Autoplay displays various options in a prompt whenever a device is connected to the computer. If you load a video DVD for instance Windows will display a prompt with options to play the video directly.

There is another feature that gets axed when the Shell Hardware Detection service is stopped: The Windows Image Acquisition (WIA) service depends on the Shell Hardware Detection service. If the latter is stopped, the former will stop working as well. The Windows Image Acquisition provides image acquisition services for scanners and cameras.

To disable Shell Hardware Detection do the following: Press Windows-R, type services.msc and hit enter. This opens the Services configuration window. Locate the service Shell Hardware Detection and double-click it. Click on he startup type pulldown menu and change it from automatic to disabled.

This disables the service so that it does not autostart with Windows anymore. You may also want to click on the Stop button to stop it in the current Windows session as well. You can use the same path to activate the service again in case you want to do that. (via)

But autoplay of videos can also be a problem if only one video is opened at the same time. Users with slow Internet connections for instance may experience buffering periods in which the video stops playing. Many like to overcome that problem by stopping the video once it starts loading, to restart it once it has been buffered completely. This ensures that the video can be watched without interruption.

Several add-ons have been developed that automate the process. The majority of add-ons stop the Youtube video once it starts playing without interruption of the video buffering.

Google Chrome

The Google Chrome extension Stop Autoplay for YouTube does everything a Chrome user would expect. It stops the auto-play of the video, and keeps the buffering link alive so that the video will buffer to 100%, even in a background tab.

Even better is the fact that the add-on supports both Flash and HTML5 video players on Youtube, ensuring that all videos are stopped from autoplaying. [download link]

Firefox

The Firefox add-on stops automatic video playback of embedded media. It works not only with Youtube videos but other embedded media as well. Media is blocked from autostarting in two ways. The first tries to stop the automatic playback, the second replaces the embedded media with a red frame.

youtube autoplay

The options offer detailed configuration settings. It is for instance possible to block Flash and Silverlight, or whitelist and blacklist sites. [download link]

Firefox alternatives:

Tubestop: Stops the autoplay of Youtube videos. [download link]

TweakTube – YouTube Enhancer / Video Downloader: Overkill if autoplay is the only issue. Users who want an all in one solution that offers much more than that can give the Firefox add-on a try. [download link]

Greasemonkey scripts

YouTube Auto Buffer & Auto HD & Remove Ads: Buffers Youtube videos completely while preventing autoplay. Offers some additional features like removing ads from Youtube pages. [download link]

YousableTubeFix: Customized versions available for Chrome, Opera and Firefox. Does a lot of things besides preventing autoplay on Youtube.

• Download the video as FLV or MP4 in many formats: use the download button
• Resize or expand the video automatically or manually, to any custom size.
• Remove ads and any unwanted YouTube section; like video annotations and captions, video information, header and footer, etc…
• Change the default video quality to any of the available ones (like 720p or 1080p). The video quality availability is autodetected and the script can change to the best available one automatically.
• Automatically expand the video description, category and tags.
• Prevent only video autoplay, or both video autoplay and autodownload.
• Change the Flash Player Quality attribute to a lower one to play the video with less CPU use.

Opera users can try the YousableTubefix userscript to stop autoplay. Anyone knows if there is a comparable solution for Internet Explorer users?

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 require administrative privileges to run.

In a statement Microsoft said…

Microsoft is investigating reports of limited, targeted attacks exploiting a vulnerability in Windows Shell, a component of Microsoft Windows. This advisory contains information about which versions of Windows are vulnerable as well as workarounds and mitigations for this issue.

The vulnerability exists because Windows incorrectly parses shortcuts in such a way that malicious code may be executed when the user clicks the displayed icon of a specially crafted shortcut. This vulnerability is most likely to be exploited through removable drives. For systems that have AutoPlay disabled, customers would need to manually browse to the root folder of the removable disk in order for the vulnerability to be exploited. For Windows 7 systems, AutoPlay functionality for removable disks is automatically disabled.

The exploit requires removable-media, such as a USB flash drive, and with auto-play enabled or with the user browsing manually to removable media. 

Affected Software

Windows XP Service Pack 3

Windows XP Professional x64 Edition Service Pack 2

Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 2

Windows Server 2003 x64 Edition Service Pack 2

Windows Server 2003 with SP2 for Itanium-based Systems

Windows Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows Vista Service Pack 2

Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 1 and Windows Vista x64 Edition Service Pack 2

Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems and Windows Server 2008 for 32-bit Systems Service Pack 2

Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for x64-based Systems Service Pack 2

Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems and Windows Server 2008 for Itanium-based Systems Service Pack 2

Windows 7 for 32-bit Systems

Windows 7 for x64-based Systems

Windows Server 2008 R2 for x64-based Systems

Windows Server 2008 R2 for Itanium-based Systems

NeoWin have a video demonstrating the vulnerability which can be viewed here.

Autoplay prompts can be helpful. You can for instance use them to always transfer photos from the digital camera that you connect to the PC. But they can also be annoying. Ever had to burn ten or more DVDs only to be prompted with the autoplay dialog every time you would enter a new one?

Windows 7 makes it very easy and comfortable to deal with all those autoplay problems of media and devices.

The Control Panel contains an AutoPlay entry that can be used to define the default behavior of devices and media. The controls can be used to configure autoplay of audio CDs, dvd movies, pictures, blank CDs and DVDs, mixed content media or software and games.

The action for each device and media can be configured individually. Options range from “ask me every time” over playing or opening the device or media in a specific program to “take no action”.

Windows users who do not want to see an autoplay prompt for specific media or devices simply select take no action which will disable the autoplay window in Windows for those media and devices.

Devices will be listed in the configuration panel as well if they are connected to the computer. It is therefor recommended to connect all devices to the computer to configure their settings.

Autoplay can also be disabled globally by unchecking the Use AutoPlay for all media and devices checkbox.

Here is a short explanation if you have never heard of autorun.inf files before: It contains information about files and processes that are automatically executed when a disk is inserted or double-clicked. Autorun is often confused with autoplay but they are not the same. Autorun is directly related to the autorun.inf file on the disk while autoplay automatically reacts to new devices or media, for example a music CD is automatically played in Windows when inserted.

Autorun Eater takes care of autorun.inf files before it can be executed on the system. This is done my actively monitoring the system in real time. It will automatically remove suspicious autorun.inf files and store them in a secure space in case of a false positive.

I know that some of you do not like to run a lot of programs in the background which is also my preferred way. It is possible to disable the autorun.inf system wide which is the only protection that works flawlessly. The common Registry keys NoDriveAutoRun and NoDriveTypeAutoRun do not eliminate the dangers of autorun.inf files. When properly configured they prevent that the autorun.inf file on USB devices gets executed automatically but it will still be executed when a user double-clicks the drive.

The only real autorun.inf protection which disables it completely is the following Registry setting. Just copy the following lines into a text document and name it auto.reg.

REGEDIT4
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\IniFileMapping\Autorun.inf]
@="@SYS:DoesNotExist"

Double-click that file and restart your computer afterwards. Autorun should now be disabled for all drives on your system.

It sometimes happens that entries are still listed in the menu even though the application the entry links to has been removed from the system. You may also want to fix entries that show up blank, or entries that display a need provider text instead.

The software Clean Handlers can fix those defect or invalid Autoplay handlers. It can scan for and fix invalid entries in the lists, and delete Autoplay handlers that are not needed or valid anymore.

The program can scan for and repair invalid Autoplay handlers automatically. It creates a backup of Registry keys automatically so that it is possible to restore the data if the repair did not work out as intended.

It is alternatively possible to remove entries manually from the Windows Registry. Make sure you backup the Registry before you start making modifications.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ AutoplayHandlers \ Handlers \

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ AutoplayHandlers \ EventHandlers \

I have for example no intention to display images on media with Opera which is why I decided to remove it from the list. Not that I use the Autoplay feature at all. I prefer to be in control and select what I want to do with inserted media.

Update: The program has been last updated in 2004. While not officially supporting Windows 7, it is at least compatible with the operating system. Users can alternatively download Autoplay Repair from Microsoft. The program, while still available at the Microsoft Download Center, is even older as the listed program.

It is furthermore possible to create backups of those settings to revert them back if another program added its entries to the autoplay menu. Last but not least Autoplay Repair offers a great overview of the most used locations for autoruns. Makes it pretty easy to remove them. Still, the main feature is of course the total control over all aspects of the autoplay function in Windows.

Update: The program is no longer available on the developer website. You can try Clean Handlers instead which provides nearly the same functionality. You can use the program to cleanup unwanted AutoPlay handlers, which includes deleting and fixing invalid, defect or malicious handlers that you do not want on your PC.

You can furthermore use the program to scan the system for autoplay handlers. This generates a report automatically that you can use to analyze the situation on the PC.

Most users may want to use the scan and fix option instead which fixes all issues automatically. A Registry backup is created automatically.

Another option is to remove handlers manually from the Windows Registry. Only tech savvy users should choose that option. The handlers are listed in the following two locations in the Windows Registry:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ AutoplayHandlers \ Handlers \

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ AutoplayHandlers \ EventHandlers \

Make sure you backup the keys manually before you make changes to the Registry.