CD Autoplay stopped working

[montag451]

Hi,
I had a look at an old client's laptop [the client is old, and the laptop is fairly old too].

Dell !!??!! Inspiron [8200 I think - 3years old]
Running XP Home
128MB
DVD/CDRW combo

Now
It was very hard for me to get a straight answer out of the fella, but it seemed, that it may (?!?) have been working ok for the last few years till last week, when he decided to get onto the internet, and at the same time, he installed NORTON internet securit suite 2004.

I suggested we try uninstalling that bloat as a troubleshooting measure - he wasn't too keen on that.

What happens:
When a data cd is put into the drive, the folders/files are shown on win Explorer, not autoplayed like they used to be.

When you go into D drive properties, into the AUTOPLAY tab, it gives options for music, mixed files, etc, but it doesn't seem to make any difference what the options are - still no autoplay.
I'm not going back there, but I can ring him up with a fix [DELL support wanted £35/$50 for this which he didn't want to splash out on].
Any ideas?

If you need more info, please shout.

 

[FlyingPenguin]

You probably lost the association for Autoplay (it has a default application association just like any other file). Do a file search on Google. It may be a "feature" of Norton Internet Insecurity not sure, but I doubt it. Do a google search for registry repair for autoplay file association.

Even simpler fix would probably be to use system restore to rollback the system to a restore point a week before this happened (don't go back just a day or two. Because of the way system restore works that may not fix it. Go back a week at least prior to the problem occuring).

Tell your client he should uninstall Norton or add 256Mb of memory unless he cherrishes waiting 5 minutes for a window to open. Norton Internet Security alone uses 100Mb. WinXP in it's cleanest install uses 120Mb. Right off the bat, with nothing running after booting his laptop will be unsing 220Mb which means half his memory will be running from the swap file.

If he doesn't believe you, open Task Manager, go to Performance and show him his PEAK Commit Memory usage compared to his TOTAL Physical Memory. Peak Commit should NEVER exceed Total Physical.

 

[montag451]

I found a poss fix at kellyscorner for the prob - will contact him, and next time i am passing will try it out.

I didn't want to try a system restore as I have known it to cause probs when, paradoxically, other software has been installed like bloatware.

Re-RAM - completely agree - I did try to tempt him into more RAM, but, well, you try telling a 84 year old accountant!!! Even though it is tax deductable.
That is why I am not making a big thing about him doing anything. - more work than it is worth. Also, pretty hellish trying to get any reliable info about when something did start to go wrong~!

Thank you anyway,

 

[FlyingPenguin]

Accountants are the worst. All my clients who are accountants are incredibly cheap. They use a computer until it's completely worn out and older than the hills, and then only grudgingly buy a replacement.

I never have a problem getting paid but they ALWAYS pay the invoice after EXACTLY 30 days (I do NET 30 Days on all invoices). You could set your watch by them.

 

[montag451]

HAHA - he is my accountant!!!!

And you are completely right - I first tried to get him to see the light in buying a newer desktop - not even from me - I don't want the penalties if his crappy laptop crashes

 

[corkyg]

ROTFL! I spent a lot of time trying to get Autoplay disabled - finally succeeded. IMHO, it is one of the most annoying functions there is. I do not want any CD read or noted unless I command it to be done.

Anyway - Tweak-UI will fix it either way easily.

 

[montag451]

Yeah - I agree about autoplay - very annoying.
But for kids and old[er] ppl, who want xp to be xp [cotton wool] then it works for them.

I don't think the fella wants to start playing around too much learning new things about them fangled-hokery-pokery. [He really is old]

Anyway, told him that i have a fix for his problem [registry tweak] and that next time we have a chat about the tax situation, i'll fix his computer...................................

 

[corkyg]

Good points Montag - but what is old? I am rising 74.

 

[montag451]

Mid 80's minimum -
But then again, I am mid 30's -
to those tom-foolery-fangled 20 year olds, I am old

Bah

 

[montag451]

PAH!

Just spoke to the daughter of the accountant -

Suggested that they invest a small amount of money in some memory that they can order themselves, and install Adaware/spybot/microsoftBETA.
'My husband say we don't need this ...... we don't need that' etc etc.

AAAAARRRRRGH