Your computer data is very important, and you will not want to share it with anyone without your permission. Your data can often be stolen by anyone using pen drives, USB data stores that you don’t know about.
Have you ever thought to protect your USB port so no one can use your system’s USB port without your knowledge?
To disable the computer USB port so no one will be allowed to use your system’s USB port without your permission. This will help increase your system security.
Use the BIOS to disable the USB port.
When starting the computer, you press Delete, F2, F8 … to access the BIOS.
Here, look to Advanced Settings or Onboard Devices (depending on the different types of motherboards that the shortcuts access and the order in which the menus are arranged is also different):
Disable computer USB port by Registry
1. Use the keyboard shortcut to start Run Windows ie, Window + R. For more keyboard shortcuts to make your work more comfortable, and you can check the below link. It has detailed explanations for every shortcut in Microsoft operating system window, and still, more Such tricks are yet to come on this blog.
2. In the run window, type the command ” regedit ” as shown in the picture below and click OK. This will launch Registry Editor Window.
3. If you are logged in with a different user except for Administrator, it will ask for administrator permission, give permission and go to the next step.
4. In the next window, navigate to the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE >> SYSTEM >> CurrentControlSet >> services as shown in the screenshot below.
5. In the directory, scroll down to find Usbstor to get the settings regarding USB services provided in your system.
- After you choose the usbstor folder, you will get the option to play a trick that you are expecting. In the screenshot above, there is a Start Selection value of 3. Edit this value to 4 and make sure Hexadecimal is selected in the same window, and click on OK.
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- Now you can close the entire window that you have opened while performing the steps above. After this step is done successfully, no one will access your USB port without your permission. Hence enhancing the system’s security.
- If you want to use USB, then follow the same steps 1-6 and change Start to 3. Simple! Isn’t that difficult ??
Disable the USB port using Device Manager
Applies to Windows 7 and Windows 8
1. Type device manager in the Search box on Start Menu, then press Enter to open the Device Manager window.
2. On the Device Manager window, find and click Universal Serial Bus Controllers (USB).
3. Double click on the specific USB port.
4. On the USB Root dialog box, click the Driver tab.
5. Click Disable.
Use intelliadmin to disable/enable USB port
You can download and use a free USB Drive Disabler / Enabler tool that allows you to enable or disable USB drives on your Windows PC easily.
Use Microsoft Fix It.
If a USB storage device is already installed on your Windows computer, you can edit the Registry in Windows domains to ensure that USB does not work when one connects it to a PC; use the Microsoft Fix it 50061this. Check first if it applies to your version of the windows operating system.
Use free third-party software.
You can download or purchase the best software and tools to protect your Windows 7 computer from data loss or theft when enabling or disabling the USB port. You can also download USB Drive Disable Pro to enable or disable the USB port on your Windows 7 computer/laptop.