Autostart, autorun and autoplay are all terms used to describe the same function, namely the automatic starting of a program as soon as a CD or other data-carrying device is inserted into a Windows computer. This function is often used for multi-media presentations. If the CD or DVD contains a number of documents or files, it makes a great deal of sense to start a CD Menu first so that users can easily navigate. Users can then select the file they want to see using the buttons on the user interface.

see: CD Menu

CD Menu is the name give to programs that self-start when a CD is inserted into the computer drive. Documents, presentations, files and programs can be linked to buttons contained in the user interface that appears when a CD is started. The term "CD Menu" dates back to the days when CDs were the only data-carrying mediums. Today "CD Menus" can be created for all data-carrying devices such as DVD and USB sticks.

Portable Document Format. A platform-independent file format for creating, presenting and printing text and graphic documents.

USB flash drive is the correct name for a USB stick. A USB stick is a portable data-carrier device located in a compact case. The data is saved on the flash memory electronically.

The term multimedia presentation is used to describe the content and works created from the following digital media formats: Text, photographic images, graphics, animations, audio and video.

Presentation is used to describe the act of presenting information in a public setting - exhibition, speech, lecture, report, explanation or promotion. In the world of computing most multimedia presentations are computer presentations on a monitor, or projector-based presentations (beamer).

Multimedia presentations are often used for promoting companies, products or projects and are copied and distributed on CD ROM or DVD ROM.

CD ROM is the abbreviation for Compact Disc Read Only Memory. A CD-ROM is used to permanently store data. After audio CDs, it is the next most common application of the compact disc.

A DVD is a digital form of storing data that looks very similar to a CD, but which can store substantially more data and can be used for more purposes. It belongs to the optical disk memory family.