How do I set the autorun and icon for a disk?

[Mark F]

How do I set the autorun program and the icon for a disk?

Often when I get a USB memory key or disk device there is software on
it that I want to keep a copy of.

I typically make a TrueCrypt virtual disk with the key "1"

I make a FAT32 or NTFS virtual disk as appropriate.

I set the flag for:
"Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching"
to match what the memory key has.

If needed, I would set the flag for:
"Compress drive to save disk space"

I set the virtual disk's volume label to match the original

I copy the files from the original to the virtual disk.

Of course I purposely make the size of the virtual disk about as
small as needed to fit what the flash memory key came with.


However, I don't know how to:
.. Set the icon for the virtual disk to match the original's
.. Set up any needed auto run stuff.

Does anyone know how to get the information from the original
and set things in the virtual disk to match the models?

Solutions that work in Windows XP or Windows 7 are welcome.

Note:
I know that I still won't have a complete solution making a virtual
disk backup clone of a real disk, but setting the icon and autorun
stuff will handle some more of the cases.

In particular, any information for Mac file systems is lost,
so if you have a complete solution, even if it involves buying
software, please post it.

Thank you.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

How do I set the autorun program and the icon for a disk?

Often when I get a USB memory key or disk device there is software
on
it that I want to keep a copy of.

I typically make a TrueCrypt virtual disk with the key "1"

I make a FAT32 or NTFS virtual disk as appropriate.

I set the flag for:
"Allow Indexing Service to index this disk for fast file searching"
to match what the memory key has.

If needed, I would set the flag for:
"Compress drive to save disk space"

I set the virtual disk's volume label to match the original

I copy the files from the original to the virtual disk.

Of course I purposely make the size of the virtual disk about as
small as needed to fit what the flash memory key came with.


However, I don't know how to:
. Set the icon for the virtual disk to match the original's
. Set up any needed auto run stuff.

Does anyone know how to get the information from the original
and set things in the virtual disk to match the models?

Solutions that work in Windows XP or Windows 7 are welcome.

Note:
I know that I still won't have a complete solution making a virtual
disk backup clone of a real disk, but setting the icon and autorun
stuff will handle some more of the cases.

In particular, any information for Mac file systems is lost,
so if you have a complete solution, even if it involves buying
software, please post it.

I don't know about the rest, but as to the icon and autorun, place a
file called autorun.inf in the root directory, with the following
contents:

[Autorun]
open=mycommand.exe
icon=myiconfile.ico

Lots more can be done with autorun.inf, see
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa969327.aspx for details.

 

[Char Jackson]

How do I set the autorun program and the icon for a disk?

In addition to Zaphod's informative link to the msdn site, I'm vaguely
aware of a program called Autoplay Studio or perhaps it was Autoplay
Media Studio, one or both of which will make creating autorun.inf's a
bit easier. I don't think a program is strictly required, though, as
you can do pretty much everything in Notepad.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

In addition to Zaphod's informative link to the msdn site, I'm
vaguely
aware of a program called Autoplay Studio or perhaps it was Autoplay
Media Studio, one or both of which will make creating autorun.inf's
a
bit easier. I don't think a program is strictly required, though, as
you can do pretty much everything in Notepad.

Thanks for the kind words. Indeed, as you suspect, you can do
everything you need to in an autorun.inf file with a text editor such
as notepad.