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[rnfstwill]

Hello Seagate Forum,

This is my first post and (woe is me!) I am a neophyte! Your patience is requested, please.

My free Avira AV has been warning me that 'L:\autorun.inf' was blocked for your security.

On an Avira Forum I was taught to untick this blocking in their configuration.

Does this mean now that some important program is running automatically from my Seagate external hard drive to accomplish the needed tasks for storage? And also that when it is blocked, the needed program was not running?

My unit is a Free Agent Desk external hard drive but I'm unsure which is the proper model number from the box.

Thanks for your assistance!

Bye,

rnfstwill

[rnfstwill]

Dear Seagate Forum,

Here's my model number: ST310005FDA2E1-RK which I left off the previous post (which I still await an answer).

Apologies that I didn't see the link on the previous page informing where these numbers could be found.

I noticed, by the way, two links to downloads to help find the model number and neither could find the model number for me.

Both Seagate Tools and drive detect would not give me the model number.

Bye,

rnfstwill

[rnfstwill]

Dear Seagate Forum,

This is rnfstwill once again posting a message on my thread about "autorun.inf being blocked for my security."

Perhaps I should have written that Avira AV warns that " access to the file 'L:\autorun.inf" was blocked for your security" to be more accurate about the warning from Avira AV.

Avira informed me how to go into the configuration of Avira and unblock the autostart function. Now there is no warning. Also I have been told on the Avira Forum that when the 'L:\autorun.inf' file was blocked that the external hard drive was not running properly.

I could still use some education on all this as I'm new to PC and especially this new Seagate  external HD.

I'm currently awaiting more answers from Avira Forum techs to questions like: "Is the L:\autorun.inf file part of the Seagate software that is installed on the external HD? The HD is attached to "L:"

I still want to understand if my Seagate FreeAgent Desk is properly installed and the software is operating and the backups are being properly made.

Bye,

rnfstwill

PS I'm also interested in the answer to the next question in the thread about how to erase a hard drive. I've seen that item in the user's guide but I'm hoping that someone tackles that question here inForum.

[AlanM]

OK, so the autorun.inf file is related, in a way I don't fully understand (sorry about that), to the Seagate Manager and to the Autorun window in Windows.

If the software is not installed, you don't need the Autorun window and thus you don't need Autorun.inf to operate.

If the software is installed, there's no reason for the Autorun window to keep popping up.

So in short, I recommend gratitude toward Avira in this instance.  :-)   

[rnfstwill]

Dear AlanM,

Thanks for your reply. I'm confused, sorry still!

I contacted Seagate tech support and they said:

"Autorun.inf is the primary instruction file associated with the Autorun function. Autorun.inf itself is a simple text based configuration file that tells the operating system which executable to start, which icon to use, and which additional menu commands to make available. In other words, autorun.inf tells Windows how to deal open the presentation and treat the contents of the Drive. The external drive itself should not be affected by deleting the autorun.inf or blocking it. Sometimes we ask or customers to delete or change the autorun.inf name to avoid getting prompted to install the software/register drive when attempting to access the drive. Have you noticed any changes since you made these changes?"

DUH! Sorry, but I'm new to PCs and especially to hard drives. I don't get it because the tech support reply sounds contradictory?? If "autorun.inf tells Windows how..... to treat the contents of the drive" then would that NOT ALSO affect the external drive by deleting or blocking autorun.inf?? Sorry, it is not your fault but I'm confused.

Would you know...where is autorun located?? Is it part of the software that starts up the hard drive or is it part of Windows?

It does appear that blocking autorun.inf does not affect the hard drive because I have backup files that were made when Avira AV was blocking autorun.inf. I know because I have seen the Avira scans that include backup files from L:\ where the hard drive is located.

Sorry to be dense but as I said I'm new to PCs

Grateful for your assistance.

Bye,

rnfstwill

[AlanM]

Sorry about that.

To be honest, since I'm not all that knowledgeable about this issue, I'd stick with what the Tech Support agent said.  And if you need clarification, please reply to them.

[rnfstwill]

Dear AlanM,

Thanks for your assistance. I took your advice and contacted Seagate tech support for clarification.

As I now understand their reply:

the only thing blocked by "L:\autorun.inf" was the pop-up window that allowed the autoplay function. All else on the hard drive was allowed to function normally.

This is my current understanding of the consequence of "access to the file 'L:\autorun.inf' was blocked for your security."

If I install a USB flash drive on the front of my PC using a USB port, then I get an Autoplay Window opening with options to initiate functions like:

play, view, import, transfer, etc.

Avira AV support forum referred me to some blogposts that discussed the removal of autoplay in Windows 7 for all but certain removable drive attachments. (I hope I used the right tech terms in saying that). There was lots of malware invading world wide via autoplay so opportunities to use autoplay were reduced so that Windows Explorer was being used instead.

Avira added a "block autostart function" option in their latest version of Avira AV 10. That block on autostart caused the warning that confused me. I guess that Avira added the autostart blocking function to assist users from getting malware when attaching devices via Autoplay. (I'm personally grateful to be made aware of the danger of Autoplay)

I hope I am expressing myself clearly so you can get something from this thread.

Now "block autostart function" is unchecked so I no longer get the warning and I suppose that since my Seagate external HD in now permanently attached then I don't get an Autoplay Window for the reason that Autoplay pops up upon installation.

Make sense?? If this doesn't matter to you, that's cool! I thought I owed you an attempt at an explanation.

You were so cordial and helpful in any case!

Bye,

rnfstwill

[rnfstwill]

Dear AlanM.

In preparation for formatting my "L:" drive where the Seagate hard drive is located, I have been exploring accessing the stored files and I have found autorun.inf apparently located under the "L:" drive.

I don't mean to sound petty but I'm still trying to understand what was going on with that warning that I was getting from Avira AV about "access to 'L:\autorun.inf' is blocked for your security."

Originally when I bought the Seagate hard drive, I would simply click out of the Avira warning and ignore it. I assumed the hard drive was working properly.

But I was never comfortable that the backups were being made properly and were available to be restored if needed. My backup logs were confusing also. They would seem to disappear or be inconsistent with what would be expected from my daily backup schedule.

Now that I have formatted my hard drive again, I can find my user's file easily. Where, may I ask, could I restore my one and only backup performed after format? I would like to restore that one backup so I can be sure that it is indeed restored as expected?

Thanks again for your patience!

Bye,

rnfstwill