Is Autorun.inf always a virus?

Autorun.inf…what is it?
Autorun.inf is a text-based configuration file that instructs the PC on what to do upon insert of a media such as USB, or CD rom.

Autorun basically defines the following:
The process or application that will automatically run when a disk is inserted.
2)The icon that will represent your application's CD or DVD when the drive is viewed with My Computer or Explorer.
3) Menu commands displayed when the user right-clicks the CD-ROM icon from My Computer or Explorer.

What is a computer virus?
A computer virus is a computer program that can copy itselfand infect a computer.

How did Autorun.inf become associated with a virus?
Over the past decade, removable media such as USB drives and CDs have become increasingly popular. Since most computer viruses find various means and ways to be allowed to control the computer’s behavior programmers of viruses thought it wise to infect the Autorun.inf file with a virus, such that, when a USB drive is inserted into the computer, the virus is automatically run, altering the pc’s behavior.

The truth then is that, Autorun.inf in actual fact is not a virus, but can be infected by a virus.

Difference between normal Autorun.inf and virus infected Autorun.inf
A non-infected Autorun.inf file usually has the normal format for Autorun.inf. This therefore means that when edited with a text editor like notepad, the text in the file is intelligible. A virus infected Autorun.inf file however does not have intelligible text. The images below illustrate this point.

The importance of autourn.inf
Autorun.inf is very important, especially in product marketing. It helps in the final packaging of software products. Having an Autorun.inf will for instance save your software users the pain of having to search USB/CD for a particular .exe amongst a sea of files. This has proved to improve customer experience.

Additionally, a welcome screen can be associated with an Autorun.inf file, so that users (especially novices) of your software can gain quick insight about your software upon insertion of your media into their PC. There are several other advantages.

How to create your own Autorun.inf file?
In the past, users had to take the pain to write code for Autorun.inf. Now, there are several software that can easily create an Autorun.inf file for you. Such software can be used even by people with no programming skills.

There may be several of such software available, but the one brothersoft.com highly recommends is Autorun Draftsman Deluxe by SenJen Company.This software is highly professional and includes several features such as:

1) An icon library with more than 880 professional icons at your disposal
2) Ability to Createup to 10 menu entries
3) Availability of all and more than the basic functionality of a simple autorun creator
4) Tray icon with basic functionality to supplement main window
5) Ability to specify the argument for the program to run

and several other features (50 more, this blog post cannot actually contain all of them).

The picture below shows the main interface of the program:

This software is highly professional. The feature brothersoft.com likes about this software is the professional icon sets included in it. This makes the software usable by even individuals and enthsiasts just interested in professional desktop icons. Download it here: http://www.brothersoft.com/autorun-draftsman-deluxe-322261.html

The next time you see an Autorun.inf file, inspect it before you draw your own conclusions! The best software to create Autorun.inf is Autorun Draftsman Deluxe, get your copy of the program.