By default users can insert a USB disk in the system and read from, or write to it without limitation. Windows XP Service Pack 2 introduces a new setting which helps system administrators to restrict the ability of users to write to USB storage devices.
Disable writing to USB drives – Windows Vista / XP (SP2 and higher)
1. Launch Regedit.exe and navigate to:
(If the StorageDevicePolicies key does not exist already, you need to create it.)
2. Create a new DWORD value named WriteProtect
3. Double-click WriteProtect set its Value data to 1
4. Exit the Registry Editor.
Registry Fix
To automate the above setting, download usbwriteprotect.zip and save it to the desktop. Unzip and extract the files to a folder. Double-click usbwriteprotect.reg to implement the above setting. To reverse the changes, run undo.reg.
With this setting enabled, users will see the error The disk is write-protected. when trying to write to USB disks.
Administrators can implement this setting as part of a security strategy to prevent data theft using USB devices. This setting works fine in Windows XP Service Pack 2 and higher, and in Windows Vista systems as well. For more information, see section StorageDevicePolicies in the Microsoft TechNet site.
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