Getting Avira Antivir 10 to play nice with IronKey
Avira Antivir version 10 came with a "feature" that can at times be annoying. Specifically, it detects autorun.inf files and prevents them from running as well as popping up a notice screen:
Now, this is a good thing from a security perspective since many viruses spread via removable USB thumb drives and removable media nowadays. I was a bit disappointed, though, to discover today that my IronKey Basic S200 ships with an autorun.inf file on its virtual CD-ROM Unlocker as well as its Secure Files USB drive root. Antivir defaults to permitting autorun.inf files on CDs and DVDs, but popped up a nag screen every time I unlocked the USB key. Although I can disable the autorun.inf check in Antivir, it seems a bit extreme to ditch this useful feature for ALL drives just because ONE drive is problematic. The solution I came up with gave me the best of both worlds:
1. Install the appropriate file mentioned in the Prerequisites to disable Autorun capabilities section here. Reboot your computer, if prompted.
2. Click on Start > Run and type regedit (then click OK)
3. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer
4. Right-click the area on the right and choose New > DWORD Value
5. Name the registry key NoDriveTypeAutoRun
6. Double-click the key and give it a value of dd (this will disable autoplay/autorun on removable drives, fixed drives, network drives, RAM disks and unknown drives):
7. Click OK to save the value and close the Registry Editor.
8. Right-click the Avira system tray icon and select Configure Antivir
9. Make sure the Expert Mode checkbox is checked in the top-left corner.
10. Expand Guard > Scan > Action on detection and uncheck the Block autostart function checkbox:
11. Click OK to save the change and restart your computer.
12. You're Done! Enjoy using your IronKey USB key with Antivir Avira without nag screens and still having autorun.inf protection.
Now, this is a good thing from a security perspective since many viruses spread via removable USB thumb drives and removable media nowadays. I was a bit disappointed, though, to discover today that my IronKey Basic S200 ships with an autorun.inf file on its virtual CD-ROM Unlocker as well as its Secure Files USB drive root. Antivir defaults to permitting autorun.inf files on CDs and DVDs, but popped up a nag screen every time I unlocked the USB key. Although I can disable the autorun.inf check in Antivir, it seems a bit extreme to ditch this useful feature for ALL drives just because ONE drive is problematic. The solution I came up with gave me the best of both worlds:
1. Install the appropriate file mentioned in the Prerequisites to disable Autorun capabilities section here. Reboot your computer, if prompted.
2. Click on Start > Run and type regedit (then click OK)
3. Browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\policies\Explorer
4. Right-click the area on the right and choose New > DWORD Value
5. Name the registry key NoDriveTypeAutoRun
6. Double-click the key and give it a value of dd (this will disable autoplay/autorun on removable drives, fixed drives, network drives, RAM disks and unknown drives):
7. Click OK to save the value and close the Registry Editor.
8. Right-click the Avira system tray icon and select Configure Antivir
9. Make sure the Expert Mode checkbox is checked in the top-left corner.
10. Expand Guard > Scan > Action on detection and uncheck the Block autostart function checkbox:
11. Click OK to save the change and restart your computer.
12. You're Done! Enjoy using your IronKey USB key with Antivir Avira without nag screens and still having autorun.inf protection.
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