Autorun Menu for USB Flash Drives

USB Flash Drive

A USB Flash Drive (also known as a USB stick) is a data-storage device that connects directly into the computer's USB port. The memory storage capacity of these devices ranges between 32 MB and 64 GB. Not only are USB flash drives small in size, they also boast higher storage capacities, faster access times and higher transfer rates than CDs and DVDs. Because the price of memory chips has fallen dramatically, USB stick prices are becoming increasingly attractive. This means that USB sticks are replacing floppy disks, CDs and DVDs as a way of storing data.

Examples of USB flash drives (USB sticks)

USB flash drive presentations

Are you interested in using a USB stick to distribute your marketing messages or product and company presentations? Why not have the casing customized with your logo or company name! Together with a professional autorun presentation, USB sticks offer an impressive way to get your messages and presentations across.

Autorun Menu for USB Flash Drives

An autorun menu is a program that starts automatically when the storage medium is inserted into the computer, that tells the user about the data stored on the device and that is used to start the presentation, documents and programs with the help of buttons. In other words it provides a user interface for the data stored on the data-storage device.

Please make sure you read these pages for more information:

• CD Presentations
• PowerPoint CD/DVDs

All of the information contained on these pages with regards to CDs and DVDs apply just as equally to USB flash drives.

IMPORTANT
The autorun function for USB storage devices was introduced with Windows Vista and will not work on earlier operating systems.

Given that autorun menus will only run on Vista, does it make sense to include an autorun menu?

Yes! - It still makes sense to include an autorun menu program, even if the autorun function is not activated on the target PC.

• This is because 40 million Vista licenses had been sold by the end of the first quarter of 2007 and 60 million by the summer of 2007. Vista is replacing all previous versions of Windows at an incredible pace
  
  
• Don't expect your customers to search through the storage device for the file that starts the program or presentation. CDMenuPro makes it possible to save all programs and files in sub-folders. The only program that you need to place in the root directory of the storage device is the menu program itself. All your users see is one executable program. All you have to do is give this program a descriptive name such as "USB-Start", "Presentation-Start", Start-Menu" or "Autorun-USB", and your users will know instantly which file they have to start.

Protect your customers against USB flash drive viruses and worms

The people who program malware (viruses, worms and spyware) have recently started using USB flash drives as a medium for transferring their "work". These work by changing the Autorun.inf file and linking it to a destructive program contained on the storage medium. This is done when the USB stick is inserted into the computer.

If you decide to use USB sticks for storing your presentations or files, it is essential that you take measures to protect your customers from harmful programs.

Make sure that you only use USB sticks with mechanical write protection. This feature usually takes the form of a small sliding switch on the casing of the USB stick, which uses hardware to prevent data from being overwritten. Make sure that you slide the switch to "write protection" after you have copied your data to the stick.

Include a message with your USB stick explaining that your company takes security very seriously and that this is the reason why you have used write-protected USB sticks for your presentation.

You might also be interested in the following articles:

• CD Presentations
• PowerPoint CD/DVDs