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Disable Autoplay to prevent virus from being spread via removable disk
Removable storage devices such as USB flash memory has simple plug-and-play design that allows you to easily and quickly transfer and store data. However it also makes virus and spyware spread easily. Many viruses transmit via USB drives by utilizing system Autorun features. To do this a virus first copies itself and the "autorun.ini" file into removable disk. When you plug your removable disk into your PC, the system reads the autorun.ini first, then run the virus executable file specified in autorun.ini. The virus executable is then launched and copied to your system. To protect your system against this kind of virus/spyware, you need to disable the Autorun features on your system.
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To disable Autorun features, please follow these steps.
- Click Start, then click Run, type "gpedit.msc" to open the Group Policy dialog.
- In the left pane, expand the Computer Configuration in Local Computer Policy.
- Then locate and expand Administrative Templates.
- Select System.
- In the right pane, double click Turn off Autoplay to open the properties dialog.
- Select the Enabled radio box. In the Turn off Autoplay on: select list, select All drives to disable autoplay on all drives.
- Click OK to save the change.
- Done.
