How do I change a group policy setting via cmd?
Solution 1:
The "Turn Off Autoplay" policy option can be enabled or disabled via the registry. It is very strongly recommended to leave it as disabled, as it is known to be used by viruses.
In Windows 10, total disable/enable of AutoPlay is via the registry at:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\AutoplayHandlers
DisableAutoplay - REG_DWORD
Value:1 = AutoPlay disabled
Value:0 = AutoPlay enabled
It can be more finely set in the registry by two keys in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE or HKEY_CURRENT_USER, meaning in either the Computer Configuration and User Configuration folders. If the policy settings conflict, the policy setting in Computer Configuration takes precedence over the one in User Configuration.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\ExplorerHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
The NoDriveTypeAutoRun item is of type REG_SZ and is composed of
the following bits as required:
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 0x1 | Disables Autoplay on drives of unknown type. |
| 0x4 | Disables Autoplay on removable drives. |
| 0x8 | Disables Autoplay on fixed drives. |
| 0x10 | Disables Autoplay on network drives. |
| 0x20 | Disables Autoplay on CD-ROM drives. |
| 0x40 | Disables Autoplay on RAM disks. |
| 0x80 | Disables Autoplay on drives of unknown type. |
| 0xFF | Disables Autoplay on all types of drives. |
Microsoft counsels against enabling AutoPlay, so the rules may change from one Windows version to the next, but always in the direction of making it harder to use.
Reboot is required after any registry change of these items.