How do I make a CD-R autostart?

It's much easier than you might think. You just have to add a text file named autorun.inf to the CD's root directory. You can create autorun.inf in Notepad, another text editor, or any other program that can create plain ASCII text.

The first line of the file contains only the text [autorun]. The text you enter after that depends on what you want the CD to do. If you want it to run a program, type open=. If you want Windows Explorer to open to the disc automatically, your file should read

[autorun]

open=explorer.exe /n,/e,.

Yes, as strange as it may seem, that last line ends with a comma, then a period. And don't forget to type a space before the first slash. The n in the second line of text indicates to Explorer that it should open in a new window, while the e tells Explorer to open in expanded view, which shows your folders in the left pane.

- Taken from PC World July 2001

Microsoft offers more information at:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/shellcc/shellcc/Shell/Shell_basics/Autoplay_works.asp 

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