Fabler2, you are spot on! There are no files on the drive - the stick is fooling the computer into thinking it's a keyboard and is then typing the commands. That is a pretty huge security problem! I...

Again, I am not worried about this specific USB stick - all it's trying to do is bring up a winery web site. No big deal

However, the same mechanism can be used by a different device for more...

The firewall setting could block it from the internet, but it would not block bringing up a run window and typing something in. I don't know how they are doing that. It should not be possible.

I'm not trying to fix this one particular USB stick. I am trying to fix the operating system of the computer. I'm sure reformatting the USB would stop *THAT* USB drive from doing this - but *OTHER*...

In Autoplay settings:
Autoplay is off
Removable Drive is set to "take no action"
Memory Card is set to "take no action"

Those are the only three settings in the Autoplay Settings view.

...

I need to stop Windows from auto-running ANYTHING. If I format the USB, I won't have anything to test it with. :)

I turned off Autoplay in settings
I turned off Autoplay in Group Policy (both system and user)
I set the default autorun behaviour to "do not execute any autorun commands" (both system and user)
...

For me my Android phone was causing it to stick. Progress continued as soon as I unplugged it. No need to disable or unplug anything else for me. Of course Microsoft hates my Android phone. :)

I had tried everything suggested to no avail and then happened on the answer in another thread.

First, check to see how bad the problem is. Click on Start/All Apps and scroll down to the bottom....