Remove AutoPlay Handler from the Options List in Windows 7 / Vista / XP

AutoPlay or AutoRun dialog pops up whenever a removable drive such as digital camera or CD/DVD disc has been inserted into computer or placed into optical drive, with plenty of action choices in a list of options for the users, which they can choose to perform. Each item in the AutoPlay list is called a handler, installed by various applications to show as an option for a particular events or content types such as Pictures, Videos, Data, etc. By a simple change in registry, you can remove any entry or item from the AutoPlay menu.

Windows by default has several AutoPlay handlers, and other third-party programs, especially media players such as RealPlayer, WinDVD or KMPlayer, and image burning software, for instance Nero, that add their  own AutoPlay handlers and shortcuts into the list. Over the time, the AutoPlay list can get longer and longer, and some entries become invalid or orphaned even when the program has been uninstalled and the AutoPlay handlers are not removed. So if want to absolutely get rid of this nuisance, you will need to perform the following Registry tweak.

Remove Handlers By Registry Editing

If the modification to the registry goes wrong, it may causes instability. So if you plan to remove any handlers directly from the registry, backup your registry before modifying.

Go to Start and click Run, in the dialog box type regedit and hit Enter.

AutoPlay Handlers are located at the following registry location in Windows:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ AutoplayHandlers \ Handlers \ <handler>

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ Software \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Explorer \ AutoplayHandlers \ EventHandlers \ <Event Name>

To remove a particular handler, delete the registry key from from the Handlers pane and also delete the corresponding registry key from the EventHandlers pane.

For example if you want to remove VLC player autoplay handler for DVD movies, then you will have to remove the VLCPlayDVDMovieOnArrival key from the Handlers pane.

And also delete the corresponding key in PlayDVDMovieOnArrival in EventHandlers pane.

The Registry Key for VLC Player is used just for an example, it is not recommended by the author to delete its autoplay handler.

If you don’t find to play with registry editor, you can try this alternative method.

Using A Software

An orphaned or invalid junk entry might appear in the AutoPlay list of options window, as a result of incomplete uninstall of a software. The CleanHandlers helps you remove the invalid entries from the listing. Even if you’re not aware that an item is invalid, this utility can find invalid AutoPlay entries and also remove them automatically.

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