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I have portable apps on a thumbdrive, and want to automatically run the "menu" app (E:\Applications\Windows\Start.exe) when I insert that drive.

I realize (or think I realize, based on a foggy memory of trying to find a way to do this some time ago) that it can no longer be done with the old autorun approach, at least not in Windows 7.

But there must be some other way: maybe a daemon process that waits for the thumbdrive to be inserted, and then fires up the .exe file? Maybe a daemon that tries every five minutes or so to launch the menu, and doesn't make a fuss when it's not there. Maybe something else?

How can I achieve this?

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Do you want this to auto run on any computer, or auto-run on a specific computer you have pre-set up to allow auto-runs to occur. The former is a lot of harder to do than the latter. –  Scott Chamberlain Oct 9 '12 at 22:31
I'd be happy with either, although I'm guessing it's not possible to make it automatically run on just any computer (that's not already set up to run it). Most of the time it will be on the same computer. –  iconoclast Oct 9 '12 at 22:33
Related: superuser.com/q/219401/108226 –  Indrek Oct 9 '12 at 23:32
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marked as duplicate by Karan, techie007, Tog, Mokubai, 8088 Mar 11 '13 at 16:17


2 Answers

Windows won't do this with just any old flash drive, but look up the U3 drives from Sandisk; They emulate a USB CD-ROM drive and a USB flash drive, with an autorun script on the virtual CD-ROM to launch a program from the flash drive part.

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I believe they're no longer available. –  iconoclast Oct 9 '12 at 23:03
Here is a link to the sandisk press release about the stopping of support of U3 –  Scott Chamberlain Oct 9 '12 at 23:07
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up vote 0 down vote accepted

Despite the name, USB Safely Remove can do this (as well as help you figure out what programs are preventing you from "safely" removing your flash drive). It's not free (or cheap!) but it may be worth it, considering there doesn't seem to be any other good option to accomplish this.

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