Configure specific program to automatically start with the feature Autoplay in Windows 7

The other day a friend called me and asked me that when he inserted a DVD movie into his laptop’s disc drive, a specific program used to start to play the movie but now is not the case. He didn’t know how to change the settings back, then I noticed that a lot of Windows configurations are easy for some people but not for others. So, here is how is done.

1-  Click Start in the search box “Search programs and files” type “autoplay”.

2-  In the search result under “Control Panel” title, choose “Change default settings for media and devices”.

3-  AutoPlay window will open. The title of the window is “Choose what happens when you insert each type of media or device”. See image 1.

Click image to expand. Image 1.

In this window you can change the default program that starts when you insert a media (CD, DVD; etc.) or device in your computer, as well as opting if you want or not to use the feature AutoPlay for all media and devices.

4-  Click on “Chose a default” to expand your options, among the programs that you can choose to start, there are also some additional like “open folder to view the files using Windows explorer”, “Take no action” & “Ask me every time”. Remember that depending of the choice(s) you applied every time you insert or connect a media or device, that will be the action executed. The last option is a button to reset all defaults.

When you are finished configuring your settings click “Save” and you are done.

Update:

If certain application is not showing in the list “Choose a default” you should check out the application preference so see if there is an AutoPlay option. Most applications should come up in the list automatically but others for any reason won’t (this will often happen with free software).