AutoRun Function

Custom USB flash drives supplied by Flashbay are unique in that they support a function know as 'AutoRun', something which most standard off the shelf flash drives do not offer. This feature allows your preloaded data such as a presentation to launch automatically when the user plugs the custom USB flash drive it into their computer. The AutoRun works by the addition of an extra file to the root of the customer USB Flash Drive called autorun.inf. If your require Flashbay to preload your data, then we are happy to set the AutoRun function up for you. Alternatively we can provide information on how to take advantage of this feature yourself should you want to set it up in-house.

Why use AutoRun?

Example: When using custom USB flash drives as a marketing tool to distribute a number of PDFs then use the AutoRun function to make sure the most important document loads instantly when your customer plugs in the flash drive. Some companies like to AutoRun a Flash or HTML menu to aid navigation around the various documents stored on the flash drive.

Things to note:

• The standard PC autorun.inf will not work on Macs.
• Some companies prevent flash drives and CDs from Auto-Running on company computers by making changes to each computer's registry as a security precaution (our experience that this is very rare).
• When some users plug in their custom USB flash drive, security software may ask them whether they want to allow the drive to AutoRun. They just need to click 'Yes' and the AutoRun will launch as normal.

Setting up the AutoRun

Setting up a file to AutoRun on a Flashbay USB flash drive is quick and simple. Just follow the instructions below:

1) Open your favorite plain text editor such as Notepad
2) Cut and paste the text in the box below into the plain text editor.

Code:
3) Replace the text 'example.exe' with the filename you want to autorun including appropriate file extension (e.g. index.html, slideshow.ppt, portfolio.pdf etc).
The file you require to autorun may also be in a folder, in which case you can give the file path.

Code:
4) Now save and name the file: Autorun.inf
5) Add this file to the flash drive root, with the file you want to autorun (and any other data).

Note there is one exception the above method: To AutoRun an external URL (e.g. http://www.website.com) on the Windows Vista operating system, an additional .exe loader is required (contact us for details)

Using a custom drive icon

When the flash drive is plugged into the computer you can view it as a drive under 'My Computer'. By Default the standard windows drive icon shows however you can add you own custom drive icon (e.g. your company logo). You can achieve this by adding an extra line to the autorun script. You also need to add the .ico file to the flash drive (in this example called company_logo.ico

Code:
It is possible your internal company IT department will have a .ico file of your company logo to hand. However if you want to make one you need to use a specific icon making program (making a 16 by 16 pixel file in a standard graphics editor and naming it with a .ico extension will not work)