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autorun posts

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware, Open Source

How to display a Windows desktop icon when you plug in a flash drive

Desk DriveWhenever you plug in a flash drive, CD, or other external media device into a computer running Windows XP or Vista, an autorun window will pop up asking if you'd like to explore the contents, play any media files, or take other action. When you plug removable media into a Linux system, an icon simply pops up on your desktop. Desk Drive is a free utility that lets you add this feature to Windows.

Once you install Desk Drive, all you have to do is make sure it's running by looking for a little networked folder icon in your system tray. Now whenever you plug in a removable flash drive, CD ROM or other media an icon should show up on your desktop. You can customize Desk Drive by right-clicking on the icon in the system tray and telling the software to ignore certain drives or enable certain types of media.

You might also want to disable the Windows autorun dialog.

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Freeware

USB AutoRunner launches apps or documents when you plug in a flash drive

USB AutoRunner

Have a program on your USB flash drive that you want to launch every time you plug that drive in? USB AutoRunner is a little utility that will create an Autorun.inf file on your flash drive to let Windows know you want to run your portable web browser, office application, virus scanner, or any other applications installed on your flash drive.

You can also use USB AutoRunner to select documents that will be opened when you insert your flash drive. Your PC will open those documents using the default viewers. So if you've got a PDF that you want to launch, it will open up in Adobe Reader, FoxIt, or whatever PDF viewer is installed on your system.

You could create Autorun.inf files by hand, but USB AutoRunner makes the process much simpler.

[via Lifehacker]

Filed under: Windows, Productivity

Auto-launch your USB workspace

Quicklaunch your USB workspaceDo you carry all of your essential apps with you on a keychain USB drive? Wouldn't it be nice if you could pop your drive into a USB port and launch all of those apps with the click of a button? Lucky for you, Lifehacker is running a great tutorial called Quicklaunch your USB workspace. It's a quick and easy guide that will show you how to set up Autorun and a batch file on your flash drive to make it do your bidding as soon as you plug it in. It's Windows-centric, though--any tips from the Mac or Linux nomads out there?

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The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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