Disable USB storage in Windows XP/Vista/7

Sometime we need to disable or stop the USB port of our computer. Here are the tips of how you can do this using Windows Registry.


1. Open the Notepad, copy and paste the settings below:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies]
"WriteProtect"=dword:00000001
2. Open the File menu->Save As and Select "All Files (*.*)" from Save as type options. Input any file name with ".reg" extension, example "DisableWrite2USB.reg"
3. To Disable, just double click the file, click "Continue", if UAC is enabled and choose "Yes" for the confirmation.
To enable writing to usb storage, change first the value to zero and repeat the procedure above.
"WriteProtect"=dword:00000000

Disable plugging of USB storage such as flash drives/USB hardisks  in Windows Vista/Xp
1. Open the Notepad, copy and paste the settings below:
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR]
"Start"=dword:00000004
2. Open the File menu->Save As and Select "All Files (*.*)" from Save as type options. Input any file name with ".reg" extension, example "DisableUSB.reg"
3. To Disable, just double click the file, click "Continue", if UAC is enabled and choose "Yes" for the confirmation.
To enable usb storage, change first the value to 3 and repeat the procedure above.
"Start"=dword:00000003
Note: Don't forget to restart your computer afterwards.
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