- #How to format usb drive with security preference how to#
- #How to format usb drive with security preference install#
- #How to format usb drive with security preference driver#
- #How to format usb drive with security preference full#
Open Device Manager from the Control Panel.
#How to format usb drive with security preference install#
Here you just need to have a test computer where you can install the device.īelow are the steps you need to follow to discover the USB ID for an installed device. The catch of discovering the USB ID is to install it. You can craft your own USB device matrix of what is allowed and what is denied. The other benefit of the policy via Group Policy is that you can either deny the USB device or allow the USB device. The ID will then be used in the policy to control the USB device. With this method you will need to discover the USB ID for the device. This method is not an “all or nothing” situation like so many other options are. This method provides a very granular method of controlling individual USB devices.
#How to format usb drive with security preference full#
Then, select the groupname that the user(s) belongs to (of which you want to deny installation of USB drives) and then select the Deny- Full Control permission, as shown in Figure 1.Ĭonfigure the groupname to have Deny permissions of Full Control for both files Controlling the Installation of USB Drives on Windows Vistaįor Windows Vista computers you can use a Group Policy object setting to deny the installation of USB drives. In the Properties window, select the Security tab. To modify the security of each file, right-click on the file, then select Properties. To deny the installation of the USB devices, you need to modify the security on each file. The two files are the USBSTOR.PNF and USBSTOR.INF files, which are located under the %systemroot%\inf folder. This process allows you to control USB devices, but not nearly as easy to deploy or control compared to the new option by controlling USB drives using Group Policy.įor Windows 2000 and XP you will need to modify the permissions of existing files to restrict the installation of USB drives. Controlling the Installation of USB Drives on pre-Windows Vistaįor those that do not have Windows Vista yet, or want to verify the process of controlling the installation of USB devices on Windows 2000 or Windows XP, I wanted to throw in the capabilities that you do have for these operating systems.
#How to format usb drive with security preference driver#
In this scenario the USB drive has been configured in the registry and the associated driver has been copied to the computer. The second scenario is when the USB drive has already been installed. In this case, the USB drive that you want to control has never been installed, so you can still control the installation of the USB drive and its driver. A similar scenario would be that you have a USB drive that you want to restrict, which has not been installed on the computer before, even though a different USB drive has been installed. In an instance like this the computer does not have any USB drives installed.
The first scenario is quite simple as it deals with a computer that has never seen a USB drive before. You Must Consider Two Scenarios for Controlling USB Drivesīefore we can investigate the options and steps needed to restrict USB drives, we must break down USB drives into two different scenarios. These settings are easy to configure, control, and are very powerful as they are deployed using Group Policy. However, Microsoft has come to the rescue by adding Device Installation Restrictions to control USB devices on Windows Vista. Until now the control of USB drives has been limited, clumsy, and in most cases all USB devices are affected if you want to control USB drives. If a user can take the USB drive out of the office in their pocket, copy nearly any file to it, then plug it into their production desktop to copy or execute the files from the USB drive, the exposure for an attack or introduction of a virus is rather extreme.
#How to format usb drive with security preference how to#
When you consider security, protection of the network, protection of corporate data, or similar issues like this on your corporate network, you must think about how to control USB thumb drives and hard drives.