Autostarter

Most removable storage devices, be them media discs or USB flash drives, come with predefined functions which bring up a prompt to select one suitable action to take. This is usually handled by the Windows Autorun function, but it can also be enhanced with the help of third-party alternatives like Autostarter.

For starters, the application saves you the entire time and effort needed to go through a setup process, so you can check what it’s all about from the moment download is done. However, functionality completely depends on .NET Framework, so it’s a good idea to install it if it’s not already on your PC.

The application doesn’t come with any preset functions, so all configurations need to be manually established. This is all accomplished in a straightforward design, which also requires you to be aware of the target drive letter. There’s no option to automatically detect removable drives, even though it’s specialized to work with them.

As such, it’s recommended to first plug in the device of interest and only then decide what happens. The application aims to replace the regular Autorun feature found in Windows, but some degree of customization is required. On the other hand, functions can be used just for drives of interest.

There are a couple of columns which need to be configured. To enable edit mode, a drive letter first needs to be selected, which remains intact, with no content required to be copied on the target drive. Actions mostly consist of program executable paths, or custom scripts, but there’s no help manual to provide the necessary list of supported functions.

Taking everything into consideration, we can state that Autostarter isn’t really fit to be a complete replacement for the Windows Autorun feature. A great deal of effort need to be invested in defining actions for all your target drives.