What is Autorun.inf file

Autorun.inf is a configuration file which is used to tell windows about what should happen if a specified action takes place in the respective drive.Normally, it will be used to run the executable file after the CD or DVD or USP device loaded successfully in the computer. This file must be located in the root directory of a volume. As Windows has a case-insensitive view of filenames, the autorun.inf file can be stored as AutoRun.inf or Autorun.INF or any other case combination.

When you open the Autorun.inf file, you could see the following inputs

The AutoRun section contains the default AutoRun commands. An autorun.inf file must contain this section to be valid.

Open = [exepath]exefile [param1 [param2 …]]
Specifies the path, file name and optional parameters to the application that AutoRun launches when a user inserts a disc in the drive. It is the CreateProcess function that is called by AutoRun.

icon = iconfilename[,index]
The name of a file resource containing an icon. This icon replaces the standard drive icon in Windows Explorer. This file must be in the same directory as the file specified by the open key.

The following image shows the files while opening the USB device that contains Autorun.inf file.

To disable the Autorun functionality in windows you can refer this Microsoft KB article http://support.microsoft.com/kb/967715

Thanks,
Morgan
Software Developer