Usb Autorun - All Operating Systems

[SteveParker]

I have a client who wants to give out a promotional USB stick at a media event. When customers insert it into their computer, he wants it to open their browser (if not already open), load a URL and insert a promo code into a field on the page.

How close can I get to this functionality?

There will be 100 guests and they are likely to have a variety of operating systems.

[CanadianTaco]

I have a client who wants to give out a promotional USB stick at a media event. When customers insert it into their computer, he wants it to open their browser (if not already open), load a URL and insert a promo code into a field on the page.

How close can I get to this functionality?

There will be 100 guests and they are likely to have a variety of operating systems.

It should all be completely possible.

You should check out the USB Rubber Ducky: http://hakshop.myshopify.com/collections/frontpage/products/usb-rubber-ducky

[marc]

Hi SteveParker,

A sure fire way to do this on Windows XP would be with a U3 USB stick. These however are normally a little more costly than standard USB media as they have hardware changes allowing them to have a virtual CDROM partition.

Not only this, but Windows Vista and upwards I believe won't give autorun functionality like XP did.

As CanadianTaco said, the USB Rubber Ducky could work, but this would not be cross platform unless each one is flashed according to what OS the user is running which I assume is not possible in your case. This would also be quite pricey.

I don't think there is a good answer to give you, but I would recommend your client against this. However, I fully understand he wants it made easy for the users.

In terms of the promo code, this is easily done by loading a variable in PHP via the URL. Something like http://website.com/order.php?promo=C0DEH3R3. To auto open this URL would be impractical given you want OS-independence, so I would recommend just having subdirs on the root of the USB so that the user can choose themselves until a better solution could perhaps one day be offered.

[CanadianTaco]

Or look into QR codes...

[abs0lut3z33r0]

What about AutoIT scripts , an .exe that would enable USB autorun and then the required functions

[SteveParker]

Thanks guys - this is all very useful stuff, although I have to confess slightly beyond me. Not sure if I can squeeze any budget out of the client, but if I could, is there anyone who would be interested in having a crack at this?

Please email me at steve@reel-show.tv

[Tox1k]

You could try this to get a u3 like feel.

Then, write a program in c++ or the language of your choice that opens the page. You'll need the element you want to input into; use whatever command you need to input it.

c++ style:

    HINTERNET hInternet, hFile;
    DWORD rSize;
    hInternet = InternetOpen(NULL, INTERNET_OPEN_TYPE_PRECONFIG, NULL, NULL, 0);
    hFile = InternetOpenUrlA(hInternet, "http://website.net", NULL, 0, INTERNET_FLAG_RELOAD, 0);

then use the QWebElement class to fill out the form.

Make the autorun.inf open the application, then put them both in an Iso, mount it, and you can use any usb you want for cheap.