How to add custom AutoPlay options in Windows Vista

Let me start by saying that if you're not comfortable messing around with your Windows Registry, then DON'T DO IT! If you mess something up in the Registry, you can cause serious problems which could easily lead to data loss! That having been said, read on...

I use Nero to burn DVDs and CDs. Today I went to burn a DVD and I noticed that Vista's AutoPlay did not give me the option to burn a DVD using Nero. I opened the AutoPlay options and clicked around... to my surprise, the option existed for CDs, but not for DVDs. "No problem," I thought aloud to myself, wondering why I was thinking aloud, "I'll just add Nero as an option for DVDs!"

By default, windows vista does not allow you to just use what ever program you want when, say, you insert a blank DVD. There are many options pre-configured options, but no way to modify them. If you're lucky, your burning software automatically added the necessary registry values when you installed it, but if it's not there by magic, you're shit out of luck.

Or are you?

I did a lot of searching for how to add custom programs to the Vista AutoPlay options... While I found the same limited information about how to customize the existing selection of AutoPlay options, no forums offered a solution for adding a program that was not already available.

So, I did what any self respecting geek in my position would do... I figured it out for myself.

In the registry, there are two keys you want to look for.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\EventHandlers\
(This key holds all of the events - for example, I was looking for the HandleDVDBurningOnArrival key.)

and

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers\Handlers\
(These are the options that will be available when you go to customize your EventHandlers - in this case, I needed to find NeroAutoPlay7LaunchNeroStartSmart so I could add a new string with that name to the HandleDVDBurningOnArrival key.)

Once you've made the appropriate modifications in the Registry, you're ready to fire up the AutoPlay options. You can get to these options from the Control Panel. If you're not already aware of this, vista has a great search feature at the top right. Open the Control Panel and type "autorun" in the search field and you'll see the option you need.

When the AutoPlay options come up, you'll notice that the string you've added to the EventHandlers key is now available under the respective event... in my example, "Create Your Own Disc Using Nero Start Smart Essentials" is now an option for Blank DVD.

Confused yet? Well, that sucks for you. If you're confused at this point, I don't recommend playing around with your registry You'll probably break something and get pissed off at me.

If anyone stumbles upon this post and wants further assistance, please leave a comment below and I'll try to help out.