AutoRun Disable by Endpoint Protector

Of course you use antivirus software and maybe a firewall, too, but keeping your PC safe only starts there. One of the simplest yet smartest things you can do is disable Autorun in Windows. It's a convenience that runs programs automatically; for example, Autorun starts playing a CD as soon as you close the tray. It's even more convenient for the viruses and other malware that use autorun.exe to do everything from infiltrating your system to destroying it. One of the simplest ways to disable Autorun completely or selectively is with AutoRun Disable by Endpoint Protector. This free tool lets you disable Autorun completely with one click, or disable it selectively by drive type or letter. It handles both internal and external hard drives, optical drives, network drives, and removable drives such as USB devices. It even has an option for unknown drive types.

Since other tools and methods can disable Autorun in Windows, we first made sure it was enabled for all our drives before we ran AutoRun Disable. The small, boxlike interface has tabs labeled Disable AutoRun, by Drive Type, and by Drive Letter. It opened with the first tab showing a message that our PC was unsafe because Autorun was enabled. The first tab offers language options (English, French, and German) and three buttons: Save, Cancel, and Disable Everything and Save. We clicked the last button, which turned off Autorun for all our system disks and declared our system safe. The by Drive Type tab offered check boxes to enable certain drives by type, and the Drive Letter tab had an entry field for entering excluded drives by comma-separated drive letters. The Help button called up a Web page with various resources, such as PDF-based manuals and Endpoint Security Adventures Comics, which use humor to illustrate cyber risks.

AutoRun Disable offers a simple way to make sure Autorun is disabled in Windows while allowing it for just where you want it or need it. The worst that happens with it is you make a few more clicks. The worst that happens without it is potential system catastrophe. Your choice.