Autoplay on CD/DVD drives

[seany65]

How do I get my DVD drives to 'autoplay' when I insert a software disc, like a game?

'Autoplay' used to work but now it doesn't. This has happened on most of my PC's. With my previous PC I did think that I'd accidentally clicked on a button saying not to Autoplay. I made sure not to do that with my present PC and Autoplay still doesn't happen.

I have XP SP3 and in the 'Properties' of both DVD drives I re-set the 'Autoplay' to 'Restore to defaults' the other day, and they still don't 'Autoplay'.

This doesn't particularly matter with most disks, as I can just click on the drive's icon and open it that way. That usually leads to an 'autoplay' thing to click on, which is part of the installation package of the software. Or I can use the 'Run' window in the start menu.

But Yesterday I couldn't get a game called 'Two Worlds' to install, even by clicking on the game's 'autoplay' thing. I can still install other games using the above method, though.

Can anyone help, please?

[rlg118]

I have autorun turned off because I don't want anything to run by itself, but perhaps that's just me.

You might look to see if there is an autorun.inf file in the disc's root directory. Open it with a text editor like Notepad and look for a line which says "open=" and note the program named in that line. (Usually it is "setup.exe".) Find that program, click on it, and let 'er rip.

[MrInBetween]

As for your problem of not autorunning generally, if you're happy editing the registry, you could check to see that there aren't keys at

HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

called NoDriveAutoRun or NoDriveTypeAutoRun. If they do exist, set their values to zero. Usual caveats about 'at your own risk' apply.

[buttsie]

Malware uses auto run / play to start so MS sent out a few security patches to nobble it

Thats most likely why so you'd need to remove the offending MS kS security updates

I really dont see what the issue is from aperspective of time

My computer gives you access to what ever drive your game dvd cd is on in seconds
A few clicks and its running

A small price to pay so the malware threat cant use autoplay / run to start itself

[MrLinc]

Originally Posted by buttsie

Malware uses auto run / play to start so MS sent out a few security patches to nobble it

Thats most likely why so you'd need to remove the offending MS kS security updates

I really dont see what the issue is from aperspective of time

My computer gives you access to what ever drive your game dvd cd is on in seconds
A few clicks and its running

A small price to pay so the malware threat cant use autoplay / run to start itself

That's mostly sure the "issue".
Even maybe your antivirus (or any security software) is stopping it because it's like an "open door", a big potential security issue as it has always been.

If it's a game or any installable software, go to "My Computer" then double click the drive and it should work; if not, just one click to the drive and look for "setup.exe".


As I see you're on XP and you're a very basic user and Microsoft is stopping support and updates for XP soon, you should start (I'd say "YOU HAVE TO RIGHT NOW" but I'm not giving orders to anyone) investigating how to upgrade to a newer version of Windows. Just avoid Vista and jump to Windows 7 as it's easier and doesn't eat up many resources and it's still regularly updated.

[seany65]

Thanks to everyone for the replies.

I shall try some of the suggestions tomorrow.

There's nil chance of being able to swap to Win7 any time soon. By the time I can, they will have stopped supporting it an I'll have to 'upgrade' to win8 (Ugh!). Only by then, it'll be near the end of its life and it'll be recommended that I upgrade to Win9. By the time I can do that, I'll be told it's best to 'upgrade' to Win10...etc.

[seany65]

@MrInBetween,

I tried your suggestion of editing the registry, and while a disc 'autostarted', it was an odd sort of 'autostart' in which the thing that came up was the sort of thing that comes up when you right-click on a drive's icon and you get a list of the files on it rather than the sort of 'autostart' which you get when you click on the software's icon ie. a window with 'Install', 'Run', 'Uninstall' etc. written on it.

I still can't get Two Worlds to install.

So I reset the registry entries to the original values.

@rlg118, How do I get to the disc's root directory? I presume you mean the software disc.

[MrInBetween]

What actually happens when the disc autoplays is dependant on what's selected for that type of disc in Start Menu>Default Programs>Change AutoPlay settings.

But presumably what came up then was the root directory; it's just another name for the topmost level.

[seany65]

@MrInBetween, when I've clicked on 'open' with the dvd in the drive there is an 'autorun set up file' (a notepad with a cog) and when clicked on, it shows this:

[autorun]
open=autorun.exe
icon=autorun.exe,0

[config]
WndTitle=Two Worlds
Text0=Install Two Worlds;280;230;1;0;0;0xFFFFC86E;0xFFFFEECC;install ;setup.exe;;0;1;Two Worlds;[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Reality Pump\TwoWorlds\FileSystem|PlayAfterInstall]
Text1=Play Two Worlds;280;230;1;0;0;0xFFFFC86E;0xFFFFEECC;play;[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Reality Pump\TwoWorlds\FileSystem|OutputDir]\TwoWorlds.exe;;1
Text2=Explore...;280;310;1;1;1;0xFFFFC86E;0xFFFFEE CC;explore;.
Text3=Exit;270;364;1;1;1;0xFFFFC86E;0xFFFFEECC;exi t
Text4=www.2-worlds.com;378;510;1;2;2;0xFFFFC86E;0xFFFFEECC;ope n; (This bit in the brackets replaces a link to the two worlds website).
Font0=Times New Roman;48;800;0
Font1=Times New Roman;30;800;0
Font2=Times New Roman;24;800;0
RunningMutex=TwoWorlds


There is an 'Autorun CD Launcher' icon, which when double-clicked gives a very short image of an hour glass turning, but this disappears instantly and nothing else happens. I've clicked on 'properties' and a tabbed box comes up with 'General','Version', 'Compatibility' and 'Digital Signatures' on, but nowhere does it have '.exe' after 'Autorun'.

I've not yet found any solution on google. I may just give up with it and install 'two worlds 2'.

[MrInBetween]

Have you tried, as rlg118 suggests, running setup.exe, as that's mentioned in the file you've quoted?

[EDIT]
Also, if it doesn't, try right-clicking and selecting 'run as administrator'.