How Can I Protect Against Viruses and Trojans on Removable Drives?

Internet crooks use the AutoPlay feature to spread malware between PCs using removable drives.

AutoPlay is designed to simplify your life, by automatically running a program as soon as a CD/DVD or USB drive is inserted. However, hackers can also use this feature to launch a malware installer when the drive is connected and often the malware will manage to sneak under your anti-virus’ radar.

You can easily disable this feature in Windows 7 and above to prevent this from happening, which will just mean that you have to manually launch the startup program on your CD/DVD/USB drive if you want to run it:

1. On Windows 10/8.1/8, press [Windows Key] + [X] and click on Control Panel. On Windows 7, click Start > Control Panel.
2. Set the View by drop-down list to Large icons.
3. Click on AutoPlay.
4. Untick Use AutoPlay for all media and devices.
5. Click Save.

Tip: if you want to still use this feature but want to have control over which discs or USB drives are allowed to run software, then set the option Software and games to Ask me every time. Then, if a disc tries to launch an installation program, you will be prompted to approve it first.