Autorun.inf history

Windows 95, and above, has a feature called AutoRun.

AutoRun works by looking at the CD-ROM.
If it contains an autorun.inf file in the root directory then the instructions in this are run.

The autorun.inf facility introduced for Windows 95 runs only programs: files that end in .exe or .com.
AutoRun wasn't intended to autorun files such as .htm and the following doesn't work.

[autorun]
open= start.htm (this does not work)

StarterFile enables the limitations of autorun.inf to be overcome and enables files to be automatically launched when the user inserts a CD.

StarterFile is written to the CD-ROM along with autorun.inf and the file you want to automatically open. StarterFile will open the application on the users PC which is associated with the file extension of the file in autorun.inf.

Here's an autorun.inf file which would open a file called start.htm.

[autorun]
open=starterfile.exe start.htm

autorun.inf, starterfile.exe and start.htm should all be written to the root directory of the CD.

StarterFile works with most files, see more examples.

Hardware AutoPlay is a new feature introducted in Windows XP that detects content such as pictures, music, or video files on removable media and removable devices. AutoPlay then automatically launches applications to play or display that content. AutoPlay should not be confused with AutoRun.