The AutoPlay Visual Designer software builds engaging, professional-looking menus with graphics, links, and interactivity. To design the menu on the ISO (CD) partition, we recommend that you look at AutoPlay Menu Designer. So the USB drive contains two partitions: one CD partition with your menu, and a second partition for user data. An ISO disk image can be written to this partition the ISO can contain an AutoStart menu, just like any normal CD.

How do they work? These USB drives contain a CD partition. Here is a step-by-step guide explaining how this can be done.

These USB sticks can take advantage of autorun functionality like any other CD: they can copy files, install programs, and more.įlashbay company is one vendor of such drives.Īlso, experienced users may try to create a flash drive with a CD-ROM partition from a typical USB stick manually. Use of special USB drives that present themselves as CD drives to the computer (for example, U3 flash drives). How to Use AutoRun with Programs on USB Flash Drives in Windows 7/8/10ĭevelopers have two options to work around autorun limitations:ġ. To automatically runĪ program when a USB drive is connected, developers of software for Windows have to resort to workarounds. Unfortunately, this move intended to stop the spread of viruses hurts legitimate developers as well. The double-edged sword of easy installationĬreated security risks, which is why Microsoft blocked AutoRun on USB drives (but not CDs/DVDs) in Windows 7Ĭhanges in Windows 7). In Windows 7 and higher, however, this situation has changed. Together, these complementary features in Windows XP and Vista give one-click access to new applications on USB drives. AutoPlay lets users pick from a menu of actions, instead of hunting through folders on a disk. AutoRun technology automatically starts a program when an external disk, such as a CD or USB drive, is connected to a computer. Windows developers have come to rely on AutoRun and AutoPlay functionality to deliver snazzy software that makes a good first impression.

Windows autorun program