If your computer is used by many different people, such as a shared computer at your workplace, it can pose a security risk if people can easily connect USB devices to it all the time. Whether or not the USB stick owner knows it, their device may contain unsecured files, and the more people who are free to use USB ports, the less secure it is.
Disabling your computer’s USB drives can help keep your files safe, and the process is easier than you think. There are several methods to choose from, so if one doesn’t work for you, you can always try another.
In this article, Niketrainers.com.co will tell you:
How to disable / enable a USB drive via the registry
If you want to try disabling the USB drive through the registry, type “run” in the search box (maybe check out our guide on how to back up the registry first, though). When it shows up, typeregedit
in and Registry Editor should appear. Navigate to the following directory in Registry Editor:
Computer HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesUSBSTOR
In the right pane, double-click “Start” to open the “Edit DWORD (32-bit)” field.
The value data will be set to “3” by default. To disable the USB flash drive, change “Value data” to “4” and click OK.
To (re) enable the USB stick, change the value data back to “3” and the USB stick will be re-enabled.
Use Device Manager to disable USB ports
Disabling USB ports using Device Manager is also quite simple. Right-click the Start menu and click “Device Manager”. When the window appears, click Universal Serial Bus Controller. (This is the last option on the list.) You can also choose to uninstall the USB drive and when someone inserts the USB, Windows won’t be able to find the drivers.
Disable the USB stick with the Group Policy Editor
To disable the USB stick with the Group Policy Editor, open “Run”. Once opened, typegpedit.msc
. In the left pane, click “Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> System -> Access to Removable Storage”.
Clicking on “Access Removable Storage” will display the new options in the right pane. Find and click “Removable drives: deny execution access”, “Removable drives: deny read access”, and “Removable drives: deny write access”.
Click on each of them to configure them. After clicking, a window with the name of the option should appear. On the left side, you’ll have three options: Not Configured, Enabled, and Disabled.Readthe 8 Best Sandbox Apps for Windows 10 that will keep you safe
Click “Enabled” to turn it off. If you ever change your mind and want to turn it back on, select “Not Configured” or “Disabled”.
Now that your operating system is secured against unwanted USB devices, what next? You can learn our trick of scheduling startup and shutdown on Windows 10. Also, learn how to overcome copy and paste error not working on your computer.