I don't understand the people that say they get spammed to death by Ashampoo. I have several of there products and even one fairly recently. And I only get offers from there every so often. I get more junk mail from places that i have never even been to then I get from them.

Installed without any problem, I will keep it.
Thanks a lot.

Ashampoo is great. They can send me as many emails as they please and it will not bother me at all. Their products are great, reliable and their price are excellent. I truly trust them.
When comes to Ahampoo I don't question, if I need I just download.
Thanks Ashampoo and GOTD.

The last time I downloaded an Ashampoo product, they spammed my e-mail account with offers from their line of products, despite no interest seeing as how the only product I got from them was for free.
This spam kept coming even after I prompted them multiple times to stop sending me the offer mails. I even had to register as a member to prompt them to quit, and still, the spam kept coming.

No thanks to another Ashampoo product.

Help. I clicked on the register button. This took me to the Ashampoo web site where they showed the "requested license key" as AMS**7-77***C-73**EF (I added some *s here to not giveaway any keys). Anyway, the license number without the *s just didn't work. On the registration screen of the program it says "the entered key is invalid." ALSO - nothing in my email from them and I do get many, many other emails from them (so it's not in 'junk mail). What should I do???

I actually own Ashampoo Burning Studio 10 and they do have a section that handles AutoPlay, but I'm curious if anyone knows whether or not there is anything extra that comes with this standalone version. Anyone know if this was just taken out of something that already comes packaged with Burning Studio, or does this have more features?

Thanks to anyone who's willing to help. (Now, everybody vote this down. You know you can't help yourself. :))

Traditionally, Dianne, autoplay menu setups have been used for software install discs. Condescending much, Mike(#15)? ("Traditionally" - heh!).

AutoRun and AutoPlay are not the same feature. AutoPlay scans removable media for music and video files, then offers to open them with one of the apps that are already installed on your computer. AutoRun runs an app that is included on the removable media itself.

Despite its name, Ashampoo MyAutoplay Menu creates AutoRun apps, just as Ashraf(#1) and mike(#15) described. It has been exploited by the SillyFDC worm that infested US Defense Department computers, by the Conficker worm that prompted Microsoft to recommend disabling AutoRun (after finally fix the bug that had prevented it from being disabled), and by the Stuxnet worm that has infested industrial computers worldwide via infected PCs.

So, yeah, AutoRun is evil, just as Jo Bleaux(#8) said. (And even Microsoft confuses AutoPlay with AutoRun. Maybe that's because MS still includes the AutoRun app as an AutoPlay option if AutoPlay is disabled.)

You only need this, Diane(#6), if you're creating a CD to distribute apps that are buried somewhere an end user isn't likely to look for them, or if you're distributing web pages that include script to end users who will browse it with Internet Explorer. Otherwise, keep the CD directory structure tidy, keep the good stuff near the top of the hierarchy, and label the files clearly or include a readme.

(An early IE "feature" allowed Javascript stored on a local drive to run as a shell script, able to read and write the filesystem and to run other programs. Javascript loaded from the Internet is much less privileged, able to change only the web page that loaded it. If that web page is saved along with its Javascript, though, that toothless Javascript from "out there" will have the power of a shell script when the saved page is opened in IE. Oops! Instead of fixing the security hole, Microsoft preserved the feature by instead displaying a warning whenever a local web page loads a script, leaving it up to the end user to decide which scripts were safe. Other browsers don't share this defect.)

@mike(#15): (1) Only IE has this particular problem displaying local web pages, and it only affects pages with embedded script or which load scripts; (2) An organization that has blocked HTML scripts on removable media as a security measure won't likely permit execution of an unsigned app on that same media; (3) The default cluster size for NTFS or a typical FAT32-formatted flash drive is 4096 bytes. Unless your flash drive is FAT16-formatted (like the 5 MB drive on the IBM XT), small files do not take up any more space on a "USB stick" than on a HDD.

I can't stand these dolts who constantly moan because they get a couple of emails from a company who is giving them great software for FREE !!
I get about 2 emails a month from Ashampoo, for about 10 great FREE programs.
Mind boggling !

Ashampoo makes good software I took adavantage of a promotion they had a bitsdujour dot com where I bought 100 dollars worth of software for 20 bucks, I am happy using Ashampoo WinOptimizer 7 and Ashampoo UnInstaller 4, Ashampoo Burning Studio 10 and todays GAOTD software.

Downloaded at 8:30 this morning. Still no email with reg info

My question (I purchased this program from Ashampoo months ago) is whether anyone has had it work as an Automenu (not requiring any other selections) on a USB stick with Windows 7? I have never had it work!

Sparky

The Good
* Straightforward and easy to use.
* Allows users to create EXE or HTML menus.
* Menus are fully customizable by the user, from the background image to the content on the menu to the buttons and everything in between.
* Menus can be multi-paged.
* Can burn menus directly onto CD/DVDs, be placed directly onto a thumb/flash drive or external hard drive, and be saved into a folder on the computer for manual transfer.

The Bad
* Doesn’t allow for retrofitting menus onto already existing thumb/flash drives or external hard drives (or re-writable CD/DVDs).
* Not very well suited to work with the anti-autorun.inf culture.
* Splash screen background images only be .JPG, .PNG, and .BMP files – no .GIF support.

For Damon:

The Premium Version they are referring to is Burning Studio 10! Nothing at all to do with AutoMenu!!

Sparky

@Dianne, You are spot on! Ashraf, other reviewers and even the program marketers are so well educated in computer technology, that the layman's terms for what the product actually does and how it benefits us is often omitted, even with thorough reviews.

I hope to see a layman's introduction precede how GOTD programs can benefit the average beginner and intermediate user before all of the intricate details of the program.

It's disheartening to read a lengthy review and still not know how a program can benefit us.

I consider myself an intermediate at computers but many of the programs go right over my head so I can only imagine how many programs discourage the average user. (especially the partitioning and back-up programs.)

Thanks to #13, #15 and anyone else who has attempted to dumb this down for us average users - and thank you Dianne for bringing this necessary subject to the table.

I'm not afraid to write a bit of code from time to time, and despite the description, creating an autoboot CD/DVD is not very difficult. Still, it might be nice to have an elegant program that will do this in a more convenient manner.

My complaint with this software is that it:
1) Installs a toolbar by default (the new spam)
2) Demands that the user to enter a valid e-mail address.
3) Refuses to accept my gmail e-mail address which I specifically use for these sorts of demands.

I'm not about to open myself up for yet more spam, and couldn't get past this, so I uninstalled the program.

you don't get alot of spam from these guys i have several of their programs

Will not download I am still being spammed to death by this company. If I wanted spammed to death I would join a spam group on yahoo. I am a writer and do not have time to spend deleting a lot of spam mail. Thank you for the offer I will turn this one down as I do all others given a way's by this company.

@#3 "Ashampoo as a company is great – in the past I was aprehensive about registering – They have my keys for my products stored with my account (including this free one in case I need to install it again) NONE of the others do that for us that I can think of, it’s usually a one-shot install."

Paragon also keeps a list of your software, and the keys, in your "account" (the email you used for the key). These are great companies.

Just wanted to say: I have several Ashampoo products and they have never changed my home page. I don't receive spam from them. I do get an occasional notification of available upgrades - something I am glad to get.

Good software. Good company.

Oh my god! I was waiting for this to come on giveawayoftheday :D:D:D
Yay! Its finally here, im definely downloading it

Thanks Giveawayoftheday :D
-Tom

@Dianne: The purpose of this software is fairly specific. It would be good for someone wanting to make a CD, DVD or thumb drive that would present a window and let the person pull up a website, install software, send an email, look at pictures, etc. Instead of making a disc, it could also perform these tasks for creating a web page.

@Jo Bleaux: I think you have autoplay and autorun confused. Autoplay is a Windows feature that remembers how you want to handle a type of disc (play a DVD with PowerDVD, pull up burning software for a blank disc, play a music CD with Windows Media Player, etc). Autorun performs a specified task when media is inserted. Autorun is exploitable by viruses. Autoplay is not.

thankyou very much
just if this software make faster run is better
and more easiest way to use.

Still waiting for activation email. Seems to work in portable fashion as well....in trial mode/pre-registration anyway. Will wait until registered for final "portable" comments.

This is a decent program if you need a simple menu for a CD or website. The one thing I would like it to do is accept switches for executables for unattended installations of software. It does not do that.

You are fairly limited with what you can do with this software. The software I use is called AutoRun Pro Enterprise. It has a lot more flexibility but has a larger learning curve than Ashampoo's offer today.

It doesn't hurt to grab this offer. You never know when you might need it. Ashampoo gives you an installer and a serial number that could be installed even after this offer has expired.

Question: Under Ashraf's 'The Bad' above ... "Doesn’t allow for retrofitting...." I assuming one would be required to reformat the USB Thumb in order to install and run this program. No problem there.

But would this mean one could possibly include a password as a menu item on the Thumb? Or am I just wishing? Thanks muchly.

DT

Autoplay is evil. I'll decline on this one, thanks.

Good Morning! I am NOT being facitious, but, what would you do with this? Can someone give me an example of how they would use it? Aside from not knowing what to do with it, it installed very easy, was extremely easy getting the key and the program seems very user friendly. I went through the entire "Help" menu and AShampoo really spelled things out.

During installation they have pre-checked boxes to make Ashampoo your default search engine, homepage and something else I can't remember. These can be unchecked.
You must click on a button during installation to get the full license. That takes you to their site where you must enter an email address, and then a link is sent to that email address.
Once you click on that link emailed to you, you are taken to their site again and asked to join their newsletters which is optional. You then click a button to have the key sent to you. They key will then be displayed on that page as well as being sent to your email.

It's worth jumping through the hoops although I was disappointed at the end of the installation to learn this is not the premium version.

You will see this offer at the end of the installation:
http://www.freepichosting.com/share/328643-ashampoo.png

No big deal as this is still a great tool as described by reviewer #1.

I'm gonna sound like I work for somebody here for saying all this...

This program Installed and ran fine in Windows 7 64 bit tonight. Tested it a little, everything seems to work well. The interface is very simple. I wanted to make my Dad an autoplay disk with some stuff a few months ago, and the free tools I found were awful, so I don't know of a good alternative, but Ashraf is always a good source in that area.

Ashampoo as a company is great - in the past I was aprehensive about registering - They have my keys for my products stored with my account (including this free one in case I need to install it again) NONE of the others do that for us that I can think of, it's usually a one-shot install. So I happily registered an account with them long ago, and I have never regreted it. Now any free or paid product goes on my account list - Thumbs up.

When I first installed a GAOTD version of Ashampoo Burning Studio a long time ago, they got me to change my homepage during install which really irritated people here bad. But they have so many positives it just didn't bother me at all, and I felt compelled to leave it - so I didn't change it back.

That's right, Ashampoo Search by Conduit (powered by Google) is my Homepage, and I use the search. You may say I'm crazy, and I posted this last time we seen Ashampoo here
- they can have my homepage, they're that good (it's just a simple Google page you can always change it back, or type in your own yahoo, google, ect.)

Did they do it again with this?


Anyway...
I have Nero 8 and their Ashampoo Burning Studio does things I can't do in Nero and visa-versa, so I use one or the other for almost everything. Ashampoo Burning Studio is $20 right now if you need a good burning suite at a good price.

The Good
* Straightforward and easy to use.
* Allows users to create EXE or HTML menus.
* Menus are fully customizable by the user, from the background image to the content on the menu to the buttons and everything in between.
* Menus can be multi-paged.
* Can burn menus directly onto CD/DVDs, be placed directly onto a thumb/flash drive or external hard drive, and be saved into a folder on the computer for manual transfer.

The Bad
* Doesn't allow for retrofitting menus onto already existing thumb/flash drives or external hard drives (or re-writable CD/DVDs).
* Not very well suited to work with the anti-autorun.inf culture.
* Splash screen background images only be .JPG, .PNG, and .BMP files - no .GIF support.

Free Alternatives
Compact AutoRunner

For final verdict, recommendations, and full review please click here.