How to Block Access to USB Drives in Windows 11/10 PC – Guide
With Windows 10, if a USB port or other compatible port is available on the computer, users can connect removable storage devices (such as USB flash drives, external hard drives, and other types of mass storage devices) to access or export data. This feature is called “removable storage device connection.”
After completing the steps, Windows 10 will deny access to removable storage classes, including USB flash drives, USB external hard drives, physical disks (e.g. CD and DVD), and other storage that falls under the removable storage class. This will improve security by preventing users from making a copy of certain information stored on removable storage devices.
Enabling, Disabling USB Drives and Mass Storage Devices Using the Registry
Administrators should use a regedit command to change the settings of the computer’s lock screen. To unlock the computer, you must go to where the administrator has been and change the settings.
Open the registry editor by running “regedit” in Start.
The following key points are important to understand about the company.
In the right pane, select Start and change the value to 3. (The value 4 will disable USB storage). Click OK. It will re-enable USB ports and allow you to use thumb drives or USB.
Disable Device Manager USB Ports
If you still can’t find your USB drive, you may need to consult Device Manager. The admin may have disabled the USB port here. Check any possibilities in Device Manager and enable the disabled port by right-clicking on the selected one and clicking Enable or Disable as per your need. ..
Uninstall USB Mass Storage Drivers
If the school authorities are concerned about safety, they will take the extreme measure of uninstalling USB mass storage drivers. To get things working, install device drivers. Here’s how you do it. ..
Windows checks for drivers when you plug in a USB drive. If Windows doesn’t find a driver, it will prompt you to install one. This would allow you to use the flash drive in your school or office. ..
Using command line
netstat -an | grep cdrom
The reg add HKLMSystemCurrentControlSetServicescdrom /t REG_DWORD /v “Start” /d 4 /f command changes the value of the registry key “Start” to 4. This will start the system and enable it to access the CDROM drive.
The operation completed successfully. The CD DVD drive will be disabled. ..
To enable it, use:
To enable the CD-ROM drive to start automatically when the computer is started, add a registry value with the following values: 1 = Start the CD-ROM drive automatically when the computer is started. ..
Use USB Drive Enable/Disable
You can easily enable or disable USB drives on your Windows computer by using a free tool, USB Drive Disabler/Enabler, which is available at www.intelliadmin.com.
Prevent users from connecting USB
If you have a USB storage device already installed on your Windows computer, you can edit the Windows Registry to ensure that the USB does not work when someone plugs it into the PC, using this Microsoft Fixit 50061. Check first if it applies to your Windows OS version.
Final note
If you want to keep your computer safe from unauthorized access to your USB drives, you can use Windows 10’s built-in security features. This guide will show you how to block access to USB drives using Windows 10’s Security Settings. ..
