- \n
- Launch Regedit.exe<\/b> and navigate to:\n
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\\SYSTEM\\CurrentControlSet\\Control\\StorageDevicePolicies<\/pre>\n
(If the
StorageDevicePolicies<\/code> key does not exist already, you need to create it.)<\/li>\n- Create a new DWORD value named
WriteProtect<\/code><\/li>\n- Double-click
WriteProtect<\/code> and set its data to1<\/code><\/li>\n- Exit the Registry Editor.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
The above registry edit corresponds to the following Group Policy
Removable Disks: Deny write access<\/code> setting located at the following branch:<\/p>\nComputer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Removable Storage Access<\/pre>\n
With this setting enabled, users will see the error The disk is write-protected.<\/b><\/i> when trying to write to USB disks.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/usbwriteprot2.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIf the above Group Policy setting is enabled, users will see the following message when attempting to write to USB devices.<\/p>\n
“You’ll need to provide administrator permission to copy to this folder”<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
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 through Windows 10.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By default, users can insert a USB disk in the system and read from, or write to it without limitation. There is a policy setting that helps system administrators to restrict the ability of users to write to USB storage devices.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[441],"class_list":["post-333","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows","tag-registry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9086,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/what-is-system-volume-information-can-i-delete\/","url_meta":{"origin":333,"position":0},"title":"What is System Volume Information and Can I Delete the Folder","author":"Ramesh","date":"May 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The System Volume Information folder is a hidden and protected folder located at the root of every drive or partition. It's even found on your SD card, USB pen drive, and external hard disk if you have connected them to your Windows computer earlier. It's is not a virus or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"what is system volume information folder, and can i delete it","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/svi-folder-system-drive-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/svi-folder-system-drive-2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/svi-folder-system-drive-2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/svi-folder-system-drive-2.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18487,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/problem-ejecting-usb-mass-storage-device-currently-in-use\/","url_meta":{"origin":333,"position":1},"title":"Problem Ejecting USB Mass Storage Device Currently In Use","author":"Ramesh","date":"September 10, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"USB devices, including external USB hard drives, are meant to be hot-pluggable -- you can plug or unplug them when Windows is running. 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We've covered a few articles on the \"Send To\" menu before, and here are the three new and undocumented registry edits that can be used\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Windows"","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/w7-sendto-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/w7-sendto-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/archived\/w7-sendto-1.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3500,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/drives-listed-twice-explorer-navigation-pane\/","url_meta":{"origin":333,"position":3},"title":"External Drives Listed Twice (Duplicate) in File Explorer Navigation Pane","author":"Ramesh","date":"July 15, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Disk drives (both fixed as well as removable drives) appear under the \"This PC\" category in File Explorer navigation pane. 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- Create a new DWORD value named