Disable USB Autorun to Save PC from USB Viruses

Posted by Saad Hamid on March 18, 2008

I know how hard it is to keep a PC safe from viruses and trojans as nearly every USB stick carries some undetectable and auto-multiplying virus. Especially in university, where I have to constantly exchange USB sticks, it becomes hard to keep my USB stick safe and clean.

Mostly the viruses that multiply through USB sticks use the autorun function of USB as it does not require any user confirmation and runs secretly in the background, unlike a CD or DVD.

The best way to keep USB viruses from injecting themselves to your PC or laptop is to Disable the USB Autorun feature and I will teach you how to do it.

  1. Click the Start button, then Run and enter "gpedit.msc" without the quotes
  2. Go to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System
  3. Scroll down to "Turn off Autoplay" and double click on it
  4. Click on the "Enabled" radio button, then for "Turn off Autoplay on" select "All drives"

autorunusb.jpg

This will now prevent any virus from auto executing itself through a USB drive. Additionaly, it is recommeneded to keep a good free anti virus solution too for additional security e.g. http://www.free-av.com

  • Hi, thanks so much for this quick guide. Really useful.
  • abdulhameeddaudpota
    Thanks for share this important point.
  • cam777
    Why microsoft created Autorun?
    Is it useful?
  • bz
    thanks dude! very helpful.. ^__^V
  • this is a good article
  • Interesting post. I have made a twitter post about this. Others no doubt will like it like I did.
  • enolaicepz
    i can't open gpedit.msc in our computer it say's
    "You do not have permission to perform this operation"
    "Access is denied"
  • Scud
    If System template is missing, right click on "Administrative templates", select "Add/Remove templates…", then click on Add, choose System.adm, click on Open, then close. Now you'll see System under Administrative templates.
  • thank you for your sharing...
    it works... :)
  • Hey, thanks for this great info. Lots of people will benefit from this, most especially now a days, when malwares are surprisingly so easy to propagate.
  • Uncle Mart
    There is a difference between Autorun and Autoplay. This will explain how to turn off Autorun http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/04/22/...
  • thanx a lot... it so helpful
  • Faisal
    nice!

    thats what i was looking for
  • Ron Flowerday
    Provide solution to disable autorun for windows XP (PRO) with SP3

    XP SP2 fix refers to
    "Under Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, and then click System"

    System does not exist in SP3
  • heya thank u very very mch coz i have new USB and it is with too much male wares wich are continuosly auto multiplying them self hope ke this trick will work...!thanks again..!
  • Anoony
    A friend suggested me to remove the autorun.inf completely, will it help?
  • nononono
    no, it's not working!
    this method only prevents launching the virus when the usb storage is inserted. thats it.

    but when you double-click on drive letter of usb flash, autorun.inf then runs, and the virus is launched.
  • yammy
    don't double click the USB icon, right click and select EXPLORE
    remove the autorun.inf file from the USB drive:
    run COMMAND
    use DOS command to navigate to the usb drive,
    type attrib -R -H -S *.*
    delete autorun.inf file and any suspiscous exe file(s) and scr file(s)
  • Zeeshan Shakeel
    it really is worth disabling USB autorun, thanks a lot
  • Sumit
    Thanx yaar. I really needed it as I use it in university pcs and in cafes too.
  • @John

    I assume you are Windows XP Home. Please use this guide to get the hack working.

    http://blog.ashfame.com/2008/03/disable-usb-aut...
  • John
    How do I do it if step no.1 does not work, I click the start button, clicked on run and typed gpedit.msc and the computer said that there was no file, is there an alternate way to turn it off?
  • Just what many of us needs to do. Cool tip indeed.
  • Thanks for that AshFame. Probably someone on WinXP Home Edition can make use of it.
  • Hey DJ
    gpedit.msc is not available in WinXP home edition. So I wrote about how to disable it from registry.
    Pingback should appear on this page automatically.
  • In hostels, it is very important the disable Autorun as the main culprit of virus infection is the autorun.inf file.
  • MBC
    Thank you very much. I alwasy fear to put my USB stick on university computers but now I can do it safely without fear.
  • Jignesh
    Hey Good found thankx ;)
  • I found this post to be useful, so I linked it in my blog

    http://blog.nftecnostar.com/nf-tecnostars-starr...
  • Cold Fire
    Nice permanent way!

    or just keep holding Shift when u insert a USB disk? it cancels the autorun :D
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