How to disable or enable USB ports in Windows. Enabling USB ports on a laptop

Do you want to protect the data on your computer under Windows control 10 by blocking or disabling USB drives on your PC? In this guide, we'll look at five simple ways to enable or USB disconnect-storage drives in Windows 10.

Blocking USB drives in Windows 10 can be done in different ways. You can use the Registry, BIOS or third party utilities to enable or disable USB drives in Windows 10.

Below are five ways to enable or disable USB drives in Windows 10.

Method 1 of 5

Enable or disable USB drives in Windows 10 using the registry

If you are comfortable making changes to Windows registry, you can enable or disable USB drives in Windows 10 by manually editing the registry. Here's how to do it.

Step 1: Open Registry Editor

Step 2: Continue to the next section:

Step 3: Now on the right side double click on the option "Start" and change its value to 4 to disable USB drives on your Windows 10 PC. Change the Start value to 3 to enable USB drives and storage devices on your PC.

Method 2 of 5

Enable or disable USB ports through Device Manager

Did you know that you can disable all USB ports using Device Manager? By disabling USB ports, you prevent users from using USB ports to connect USB drives to your computer.

When you disable USB ports, the USBs on your PC will not work and hence no one will be able to connect USB drives. You will need to re-enable the USB ports to connect devices via USB. Here's how to enable or disable USB ports using Device Manager.

Step 1: Right click on the button "Start" on the taskbar and select .

Step 2: Expand USB controllers . Right-click on all the entries one by one, and click "Disable device". Click "Yes" when you see a confirmation dialog.

Method 3 of 5

Use USB Drive Disabler to enable or disable USB drives

If you don't want to edit the registry manually, you can use free tool called USB Drive Disabler For quick start or disabling USB drives on your PC. Simply download USB Disabler, launch it, and then select Enable USB Drives or Disable USB Drives to enable or disable USB drives on your PC.

Method 4 of 5

Disable or enable USB ports in BIOS

Some manufacturers offer an option in the BIOS/UEFI to disable or enable USB ports. Boot into BIOS/UEFI and check if there is an option to disable or enable USB ports. Check your PC's user manual to see if there is an option to enable or disable USB ports in the BIOS/UEFI.

Method 5 out of 5

Enabling or disabling USB storage devices USB Guard

Nomesoft USB Guard- one more free utility to block USB drives on computers running Windows 10 and above earlier versions Windows. You must use this program as an administrator to enable or disable USB storage devices.

Protection from USB recording disks - can be useful as additional option security.

It is recommended to disable USB ports as a precaution, namely when connecting flash drives, external drives or other USB devices with the aim of infecting your computer with all kinds of viruses or stealing data. It is for these reasons that many IT workers in offices and companies block access to them. Without bothering with any programs for these purposes or other settings, simply disconnect from motherboard.

Below I will give some examples with descriptions, how to disable USB ports on a computer.

Disable USB in Bios

We go into Bios; to do this, when turning on or restarting the PC, press the Delete key on the keyboard. Go to the Advanced section ( Advanced BIOS features), where we are interested in the next option Legacy USB Support. By default, it has the Enabled position, change it to Disabled.

Save the changed values ​​by pressing the F10 hotkey and exit.

Via the registry

Using +R, open the Run window and enter the Windows command “regedit” (without quotes). In the editor we go along the branch

Microsoft Registry

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR

Find the DWORD parameter “Start” and change its value to “4”.

We reboot by first clicking the “OK” button.

PS: How to enable USB ports? Change the value back to "3".

device Manager

Open the “Start” menu, right-click on “Computer” and go to “Properties”. On the left side of the screen, click on the “Device Manager” link. In the displayed list, look for the “USB Controllers” item, open it and use the mouse to deactivate it.

Going to "Properties".

Then “Drivers” and then click the button shown in the screenshot below.

Removing USB controller drivers

An option that also has a place to be. Simply use a program, for example, CCleaner, to remove drivers from your computer. Downside is that when you restart the PC it will check for the presence of these and install them. Which will again open up access to the ports.

Fix It utility

You can download and at the same time find out how you can use it to deny access by following this link //support.microsoft.com/ru-ru/kb/823732.

Using programs

There are quite a lot of applications, it’s impossible to list them all, but I would like to use one. Its name is USB Ports Disabler. Download from the link. We launch and then everything is intuitive.

First, click the button highlighted in the figure below

If you encounter a situation where your computer stops responding to commands entered using a connected USB keyboards or mouse, check parameters USB in settings power plan. Sometimes Windows Maybe turn offUSB devices during downtime, which contributes computer energy saving, but not always justified and convenient in terms of work.
Prevent temporary shutdown USB ports If you are faced with a similar situation, in power plan should be changed power settings. To do this, click the "Start" button and in the "Search programs and files" field, enter the word "Power Options" and press "Enter". The "Power Options" icon will appear, click on it with the left mouse button.

Open power plans You can also from by going to it in a way convenient for you and, if necessary, switching to the “Small Icons” view mode and selecting the “Power Options” item.

The "Select a power plan" window will open, in which, opposite current energy saving plan Click "Set up power plan".

In the next step, click "Edit" additional options food".

In the window that opens, find the item " USB Settings" and expand it first, and then "Turn off option USB port" by clicking on +.

Click Allowed and a drop-down panel will appear with options to choose from. There are only two of them, select “Prohibited”.

In many companies and organizations there is a ban on USB usage drives is one of the primary tasks set before system administrator enterprises, the reason for this is two troubles - the removal of information (secret documents, etc.) and the entry of it: viruses, games, and the like. At first glance, the problem can be solved simply - disable USB ports through the BIOS, but this will also affect other USB devices - a mouse, keyboard, printer or phone charger.

So, it is necessary to programmatically prohibit the use of flash drives without affecting useful USB devices. There are several solution options, let's look at them in more detail:

Disable USB Windows 7, 8, Vista

Starting from Windows Vista in local group policies ( gpedit.msc) a very useful bush has appeared, located in Politics “Local computer” > Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Access to Removable Storage Devices . It allows you to flexibly configure read, write and execute bans on various classes of removable devices.

Disable USB Windows XP

To prohibit removable storage USB devices in Windows XP, you need to slightly tweak the registry and configure access rights to driver files:

1. Disable USBSTOR service (regedit.exe)

“Start”=dword:00000004

1. Set the SYSTEM account permission to “Deny” for the following files:
   • %SystemRoot%\Inf\Usbstor.pnf
   • %SystemRoot%\Inf\Usbstor.inf

It is described in more detail here, the original source is http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823732

Create a file with the extension – .bat and copy one of the code options
Body files to automate shutdown:

on-USB.bat

Rem 1) ACL cacls %SystemRoot%\inf\usbstor.inf /e /p "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM":F cacls %SystemRoot%\inf\usbstor.PNF /e /p "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM":F rem 2 ) Registry reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 00000003 /f

off-USB.bat

Rem ACL cacls %SystemRoot%\inf\usbstor.inf /e /p "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM":N cacls %SystemRoot%\inf\usbstor.PNF /e /p "NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM":N rem registry reg add HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR /v Start /t REG_DWORD /d 00000004 /f

Banning USB through group policies in Windows server 2003

By default Group Policies in Windows server 2003 does not provide an easy way to disable devices in use removable media such as USB ports, CD-ROM drives, Floppy drives. Despite this, Group Policies can be extended to use the appropriate settings using an ADM template.

The ADM template below will allow the administrator to disable the corresponding device. Import this administrative template into Group Policy as an .adm file.
In C:\WINDOWS\inf we create a file nodev.adm with the contents:

CLASS MACHINE CATEGORY !!category CATEGORY !!categoryname POLICY !!policynameusb KEYNAME "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR" EXPLAIN !!explaintextusb PART !!labeltextusb DROPDOWNLIST REQUIRED VALUENAME "Start" ITEMLIST NAME !!Disabled VALUE NUMERIC 3 DEFAULT N AME!! Enabled VALUE NUMERIC 4 END ITEMLIST END PART END POLICY POLICY !!policynamecd KEYNAME "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdrom" EXPLAIN !!explaintextcd PART !!labeltextcd DROPDOWNLIST REQUIRED VALUENAME "Start" ITEMLIST NAME !!Disabled VALUE NUMERIC 1 DEFAULT NAME!! Enabled VALUE NUMERIC 4 END ITEMLIST END PART END POLICY POLICY !!policynameflpy KEYNAME "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Flpydisk" EXPLAIN !!explaintextflpy PART !!labeltextflpy DROPDOWNLIST REQUIRED VALUENAME "Start" ITEMLIST NAME !!Disabled VALUE NUMER IC 3 DEFAULT NAME!! Enabled VALUE NUMERIC 4 END ITEMLIST END PART END POLICY POLICY !!policynamels120 KEYNAME "SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Sfloppy" EXPLAIN !!explaintextls120 PART !!labeltextls120 DROPDOWNLIST REQUIRED VALUENAME "Start" ITEMLIST NAME !!Disabled V ALUE NUMERIC 3 DEFAULT NAME!! Enabled VALUE NUMERIC 4 END ITEMLIST END PART END POLICY END CATEGORY END CATEGORY category="Custom Policy Settings" categoryname="Restrict Drives" policynameusb="Disable USB" policynamecd="Disable CD-ROM" policynameflpy="Disable Floppy" policynames120=" Disable High Capacity Floppy" explaintextusb="Disables the computers USB ports by disabling the usbstor.sys driver" explaintextcd="Disables the computers CD-ROM Drive by disabling the cdrom.sys driver" explaintextflpy="Disables the computers Floppy Drive by disabling the flpydisk.sys driver" explaintextls120="Disables the computers High Capacity Floppy Drive by disabling the sfloppy.sys driver" labeltextusb="Disable USB Ports" labeltextcd="Disable CD-ROM Drive" labeltextflpy="Disable Floppy Drive" labeltextls120="Disable High Capacity Floppy Drive" Enabled="Enabled" Disabled="Disabled"

IMPORTANT! If the added policies are not displayed in the Group Policy Editor, do the following:
1. In the right part of the policy editor window, right-click, go to the View menu item and click Filtering...
2. Uncheck “Show only managed policy settings”
3. Click OK
After this, the added policies will be displayed on the right side of the Group Policy Editor window.

Banning USB through group policies in Windows server 2008

A ready-made group policy for banning drives has appeared in server operating systems starting with Windows server 2008. You can configure them on the controller via the gpmc.msc snap-in, located in the same path (Policy > Computer configuration > Policies > Administrative Templates > System > Removable storage access) . It works flawlessly, but can only be used on Windows Vista, 7 and 8 operating systems.

The situation with Windows XP is somewhat more complicated; despite Microsoft's announcements that it will no longer support XP in the spring of 2014, it still occupies a large part of the operating systems used in the corporate sector. It doesn’t matter, we’ll set it up like the local one, but only through the GPO. Launch gpmc.msc, create an object group policy and start editing it.

I already told you how disable touchpad or webcam on a laptop, keyboard and mouse... today we will talk about how to disable usb ports on any computer. This can protect your data from theft or prevent your computer from being infected using a flash drive.

Easily and simply disable USB ports

Simple and free computer program USB Ports Disabler does not do anything special - it only allows, without delving into the jungle of the operating system, to disable and enable the USBSTOR service, which is responsible for the operation of all USB ports on the computer, with one click of the mouse.

When this service is deactivated, the system stops seeing them - this is convenient to use for security purposes. So in a simple way we will close the loophole for introducing viruses into a computer using external media and at the same time prevent the possibility of stealing (copying) our data from it.

What I liked most about this program is that it disables USB ports only for external storage media (flash drives, disks, third-party drives...), and things such as a USB adapter wireless mouse, continues to define itself and work - great.

So, launch USB Ports Disabler and click on the button labeled “Disable USB”...

...we agree to disable the USB ports (if I were the author of the program, I would remove the second window - why is this intermediate confirmation?) ...

That's it - the ports are disabled. The manufacturer recommends rebooting the system, but this is not necessary, as I have seen. If, when you disconnected the ports, you had a flash drive sticking out in one of them, then you are not surprised that it continues to be detected - remove it from the port and try to connect it again... that’s all, the computer no longer sees it.

So that the computer can see the light again and be able to determine external media information, just click on the second button in the main program window - “Enable USB”.

I don’t recommend clicking the rightmost button with the inscription “Hide IP Address” - you will be redirected to the browser, to the page of some VPN service. Apparently the author earns money this way—let’s not blame him for that. There are others to hide the IP address free and reliable methods.

Download USB Ports Disabler

On official page USB programs Ports Disabler You will find two buttons with links to download the regular and portable versions...

They weigh a little more than 1 MB each. The program works wonderfully in all operating rooms Windows systems(XP, Vista, 7, 8, 10 (32\64-bit)).

To new useful and interesting computer programs.