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tools: disabling auto-run

Thought I posted this before, but I guess I did it at futurismic. Here's a simple-as-it-gets Engadget tutorial on how to disable auto-run. Auto-run is the little feature on machines running Windows OS that can automatically open a CD's Setup application, or detect that an audio-CD has been inserted and run the default player (or maybe run a cutesy-Flash application on enhanced audio CDs), and it can also be used to run copy protection software on a PC without the user consenting to it. This is clearly malware, since it is not only not requested as an install by the user, and limits the ways the media can be used. There are also cases where it has flonked a machine's operating ability, and not just Celine Dion killing Macs, either. These are cases where we are thinking we're buying an audio-CD, but we aren't.

Engadget encourages everyone to kill auto-run. It may make iTunes a little bit less handy (auto-checks for new CDs, and CDDB tracklistings must be manually started), but I like that better than the alternative.

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