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Feb 13, 2011

Microsoft Rolls Out Long, Long-Awaited Windows Update to Disable AutoRun for USB Drives

It's already changed the behavior in Windows 7, and Microsoft has now finally rolled out an update for earlier versions of Windows that prevents a program from executing automatically when a USB drive is plugged into a PC. That behavior has been blamed for the spread of malware in recent years -- including the infamous Conficker worm -- and Microsoft had actually already made it possible to disable the functionality back in November of 2009, albeit only through an update available from its Download Center website. It's now finally pushed the update out through the Windows Update channel, though, which should cause it to be much more broadly deployed (particularly in large organizations). 

Microsoft has decided to simply make it an "important, non-security update" rather than a mandatory update, as it doesn't technically see AutoRun as a "vulnerability" -- it was by design, after all. That means you'll have to look for the option in Windows Update and check it off to install it -- if you choose, you can also re-enable it at anytime with a patch.
 
 

21 comments:

Maarten Sukel said...

been waiting for this :D

Chris said...

About time

Anonymous said...

this would impress me

ERBNFM said...

ahh that sucks no more oph crack for me

Polybius said...

Hmm, I never knew this problem existed.

Dudemeister said...

I never really had a problem with that.

phil said...

not before time!

SkyBlue said...

i think that's a good news, i always thought that USB autorun is quite annoying

http://skybluetrading.blogspot.com/

ScottD said...

microsoft is always like 2 years behind on everything. Should spend more time on innovation then thwarting piracy!

G said...

that's always the problem with windows, it takes so long to get this stuff patched

FantasyFreak1 said...

That's why you pay attention to what you put in your computer. >.> No one even touches my stuff without my permission.

Poetry of the Day said...

eeffffuuuuu winblows!
Poetry <3

Unknown said...

It's about damn time.

Con Queso said...

Why did it take them THIS long to fix such an annoying and potentially harmful problem?

Ramsay said...

Finally, I wish they would've updated this sooner.

Jôo said...

Waiting :D very nice blog

Anonymous said...

I like that Auto-Run feature, seems kind of pointless, unless the Auto-Run bug yous.

Mrjojo said...

YES!!!!!!! about damn time!

Jessica in Wonderland said...

This is good news! yay.

anon408 said...

I disabled mine a long time ago...

http://anon408.blogspot.com

anontcotrol said...

bout time!