| To autorun or not to autorun that is the question! Many | | | | that the end user will access on a regular basis then its |
| clients are faced with the dilemma of whether they | | | | worth bearing in mind that every time the user wants |
| should add an autorun facility to their promotional USB | | | | to access or save a document they will have to run |
| Promotional Memory Sticks. | | | | through the dataload programme. Fine for the first few |
| The benefits of a branded memory stick to promote | | | | times, but thereafter they may find this an irritation and |
| your company are well known and this has led to the | | | | relegate the memory stick deep into a draw! |
| huge growth in the demand for USB memory sticks | | | | - Autoruns will not work on Win 98 or 2000 operating |
| from corporate companies. But for some companies | | | | systems – beware there are still many users out |
| putting their brand on the USB Memory Stick is not | | | | there with these systems. You will also need to ensure |
| enough - they want the USB Memory stick to start an | | | | that the appropriate code is written into any autorun |
| application or program when the memory stick is used.. | | | | for it to work on Mac operating systems. |
| This technique is called “autorun” and as the | | | | - Some corporate firewalls restrict autoruns, so the |
| name implies when the USB Memory Stick is pushed | | | | danger is that the end user will never see the data. |
| into the USB port the computer will automatically run a | | | | There is a middle way, why not consider loading the |
| programme e.g. a movie file. | | | | data onto the USB Branded Memory Stick with an |
| The advantages of this is that it ensures the user is | | | | icon labelled ‘Click Here To Start’ and allow the |
| presented with the information the client wants them | | | | user to access the data when they want. This data |
| to see without having to find the information | | | | can be protected so it would not be deleted, but |
| themselves. This makes it a very intuitive process and | | | | overcomes may of the issues detailed above. |
| ensures the information on the USB Memory Stick is | | | | So whilst there are a few clear benefits of installing |
| delivered. However there are some hidden pitfalls: | | | | “Autorun” files on USB Memory Sticks there are |
| - Nuisance factor. If one of the objectives is to ensure | | | | some clear pitfalls to be aware of. |
| that the USB Promotional Memory Stick is a keepsake | | | | |