When loaning your computer out for someone else's use, it's always a good idea to be careful with everything that can be put into it. For example, a common source of viruses and unwanted files may come from external USB drives or hard drives, which are easily connected to the computer via the USB port.
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| Block and prevent the use of external USB drives on your computer |
If you are connected to a network, some policies in Windows prohibit such devices, but if you are using the device outside the network, there is a lot more straightforward stunt to forestall outer USB streak drives from being utilized on your gadget.
To perform this task mentioned above, dear reader, you will need to make a change to the system registry. Hence, it is recommended to create a restore point or make a duplicate of your important records before proceeding with the method. Moreover, it must be said that the procedure can be easily reversed in case you want to undo its previous state, as shown below.
How to prevent external USB flash drives from being used on your computer
To perform this operation, as well as other deep modifications to the system, you must have an account with administrator privileges. Check how to proceed:
Press Win + R keys together to open the Run window and enter the command: Regedit. press enter";
Navigate to this path ( HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ UsbStor ; ) from the menu on the left side of the screen.
Double click on "Start".
A drop-down menu will appear, change the value to "4" and click OK.
Restart your computer.
After your device restarts, when you connect an external USB device or hard drive, you won't be able to access it through Windows File Explorer. It is worth noting that such a change can also affect some cell phones, which sometimes identify themselves as external storage device.
To reset this setting, all you have to do is re-access the same registry and change its value back to "3", not deleting the original registry under any circumstances as this will cause you problems within the system.
