This article is a result of a help request received via e-mail. This person had been accustomed to placing an audio disk in the optical drive and it would automatically begin to play. The problem was this behavior had abruptly ended and wanted to know how to go about restoring AutoPlay. It is both fortunate and unfortunate that these settings can be easily changed. If you are a Windows XP user then read on. If you are a Windows Vista user click the "Vista" button to skip the WIn XP instructions. Vista
Update
The customers problem turned out to be something besides autoplay settings. Windows stopped recognizing the optical drive. The customer either neglected to mention this fact or was unaware that the drive had disappeared from "My Computer". Lack of this vital bit of information resulted in an over lengthy period of having to do without an optical drive. Readers with an optical drive problem similar to that described are recommended to check that their drives are still recognized by windows. As it turns out this is not an uncommon problem for either Windows XP or Windows Vista. Another page on this site addresses unrecognized optical drives.
Windows XP
To navigate to the AutoPlay settings left click the Start Button. When the Start Menu opens locate the "My Computer" entry in the right hand column and click to open it.
The My Computer window displays your Documents folder, the Shared Documents folder if one exists, your computer's hard drive or drives, removable storage devices, and scanners and cameras. As indicated in the screen shot, the optical drive that needs to have AutoPlay settings adjusted is located under the heading of "Devices with removable storage. On this screen right click the offending drive.
Right clicking the icon for the uncooperative drive opens a context menu. At the bottom of this menu is the item "Properties". Left click this Properties item.
The drive properties window that this action opens has several tabs across the top. Click the tab labeled AutoPlay.
This picture provides a full size view of the AutoPlay tab view of the drive properties dialog.
The larger arrow indicates the combo box button, which when clicked provides for the selection
of the type of media contained on disks on a drop down menu. The smaller arrows indicate
radio buttons used to select the action you want performed when the media type shown in the
combo box is detected on a freshly inserted disk. The boxed area between the two radio buttons,
labeled "Actions" allows the user to specify which action AutoPlay is to take when the "Select
an action to perform" radio button has been chosen. The Actions box also allows the user
to specify which application to use to perform the desired action.
Computer security experts will tell you that the AutoPlay function presents a compromise to
the security of a computer. This suggests that the safest thing to do would be to click the
"Select an action to perform" radio button, activating the action list box, then specify
"Take no action". This would be done for each and every media type found on the drop down
menu of the top combo box. This, in effect, turns the AutoPlay function off. However safe
this may be, it is also most inconvenient.
A viable alternative to the safest approach is shown on the drive properties dialog. The "Prompt
me each time to choose an action" radio button has been selected. Rather than turning Autoplay off,
this approach merely slows the process down and provides for user interaction.
When using this alternate approach, a screen appears when a disk has been loaded into an optical drive. You can deduct from the illustration that this dialog has the added benefit of allowing the user to specify a different application with which to open the disk content. Additionally, the user can choose to view the files on the disk in Windows Explorer rather than running an application. If the chosen action is one that you want to make automatic, you have the option of clicking the circled check box at the bottom of this dialog. To remain in full control make sure this check box is cleared before clicking the OK button. If the box is inadvertently checked or you happen to change your mind later this can be reversed using the previously described windows.
Now that AutoPlay settings have been covered, the answer to the email question should be apparent. On the drive properties dialog select Music files as the media type in the combo box. Under "Actions" click the "Select an action to perform" radio button. Finally, in the Actions list box click on a "Play using" action which specifies your preferred music application. When finished click the "Apply" button at the bottom of the screen.
These properties windows can also be found on other removable media. The now popular UFD (USB Flash Device) is no exception. These highly portable devices are responsible for the security concern voiced by the experts. Techniques once used on floppy disks to spread malware have been successfully adapted for use with flash drives. Since the options covered here are only available with Windows XP when the device is actually connected to the computer, is it any wonder that AutoPlay functions have been moved in Windows Vista?
Windows Vista
Users of Windows XP that have upgraded to Windows Vista will notice that the AutoPlay options have been relocated. The wherefore and why were covered in the last couple of paragraphs of the Windows XP section of this page and can be viewed by scrolling up a bit. Finding these functions in Windows Vista, one starts by clicking the Start button. On the Start Menu, click "Control Panel", which is located in the right hand column. When the Control Panel opens click "Hardware and Sound". This entry is shown in the illustration inside the circle toward the bottom of this screen shot.
A partial view of the window that opens when you click Hardware and Sound is shown here. On this window the next step is to click AutoPlay, which is circled in the screen shot.
The window that opens is the final destination to the AutoPlay options. This partial view of the AutoPlay options window illustrates the check box that affects AutoPlay functions on all removable media. If this box is not checked AutoPlay is turned off.
This illustration provides a partial view of the other controls located on the AutoPlay control panel. The AutoPlay check box shown previously can be seen. On the left hand side below this check box is a list of media types. To the right of each media type listed is a combo box control, which provides for selecting the action that AutoPlay takes with that particular media type.
This screen shot is a view of the action selection menu that drops down when the action bar is clicked. The circled arrow head, usually used in conjunction with a button, merely indicates a drop down menu. The applications available in this menu will vary according to the programs installed on your computer. Only four of those listed here are default listings. They are Play using Windows Media Player, Open folder to view files using Windows Explorer, Take no action and Ask me every time.
After loading a disk in an optical drive and the media on that drive has either been set to "Ask
me every time" or the default action for that media type has not been set, you will see this
AutoPlay window. This particular screen shot was captured after connecting an UFD to the computer
rather than from an optical drive. Since media on these devices had not been given a default action,
I knew this screen would appear. By using the check box located toward the top of the window,
one can set the default AutoPlay actions desired for the media contained on the disk for which
this window opened.
Repeating the warning from the Windows XP section of this page, the AutoPlay functions described
here are considered a security vulnerability. The safest setting is "Take no action" which,
in effect, turns off AutoPlay. For convenience, the "Ask me every time" or "Open folder to
view files" settings are acceptable compromises. As previously mentioned, the AutoPlay feature
security risk is especially high when using flash drives.
The response to the e-mail question for those with Windows Vista, on reaching the AutoPlay
option window make sure the "Use AutoPlay for all media and devices" check box has been checked.
Next find the media for which you want to select a default action on the left hand side of the
window. Follow this across to the right and left click the actions drop down menu. From this menu
select the application you want AutoPlay to use with your particular media type. When finished
be sure to click the "Save" button at the bottom of the screen before closing the AutoPlay window.
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