Autorun CD's are not working in Windows 7

By: Team (Support)   Posted on: February 3, 2009

We are getting this complaint from many our Info DVD users. The problem is due to some restriction in windows 7 Autorun settings. (Do not confuse with autoplay settings).

Most of us think that the Autorun and Autoplay are just two terms for the same thing. However, that is not true. If a CD contained a file called autorun.inf in the root directory, Windows would detect it automatically and follow the instructions in that file, this is called 'Auto Run Process'.

Autoplay is to examine a newly connected media device, determine what kind of content is on it, and then display a dialog that allows the user to launch an application to play or display the content. For example media files can be play with windows media player.

In all versions of Windows from XP to Windows 7, Autorun is executed before Autoplay, unless Autorun is disabled. In Windows XP, if the Autorun.inf file is found, Autorun can go ahead and bypass Autoplay altogether and launch an application without asking the user first. In Windows Vista and Windows 7, Autorun cannot skip past Autoplay. If there is an Autorun.inf file, it will still be read, but instead of the application being launched automatically, a dialog box will pop up with a list of choices, some of which could be from the Autorun.inf file.

The best method for enabling autorun is by using "AutorunFixit 50475" from Microsoft. (Link: http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=9743275

If you are an expert to do the registry fix, visit Microsoft article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715 for more details.

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