Q. How can I mark my USB storage devices as read-only?

A Web Exclusive from FAQ for Windows
John Savill
Hardware
InstantDoc #44380
FAQ for Windows

A. Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) introduces a new registry subkey that lets you mark USB-based storage devices such as memory sticks as read-only devices. This is a useful security capability that can prevent users from copying data from their systems and taking that data offsite via a USB device. To enable the USB write protection, perform the following steps:

Start the registry editor (regedit.exe).
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies subkey. (Create the StorageDevicePolicies subkey if it doesn't already exist.)
From the Edit menu, select New, DWORD Value.
Type the name WriteProtect and press Enter.
Double-click the new value and set it to 1. Click OK.
Close the registry editor.
Restart the computer.

To disable this change, you can either set WriteProtect to 0 or delete it.

End of Article

Very useful tip, especially for out high security areas.

Anonymous User November 05, 2004 (Article Rating:

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Could this be applied as an administrative template in active directory and if so what would be the scripting/coding?

mannymiata January 06, 2005 (Article Rating:

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Can this be applied using AD group policy?

MPASupport March 11, 2008 (Article Rating:

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MPASupport--we've passed your question along to John.

In the meantime....we just ran an article by Alex K. Angelopoulos that involves scripting that might be informative: “Controlling Removable Storage Access: Configuration for Vista and pre-Vista systems” at http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/98485/controlling-removable-storage-access.html

Also, I saw a Microsoft article you might want to check out: “Step-By-Step Guide to Controlling Device Installation and Usage with Group Policy”

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/library/9fe5bf05-a4a9-44e2-a0c3-b4b4eaaa37f3.mspx

Best wishes, Caroline

Caroline from editorial March 14, 2008 (Article Rating:

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@MPASupport....and any others who were curious--John created a new FAQ that details how to use Group Policy to make a USB drive read-only.
Please go to InstantDoc ID 98588 or here's the article URL:

http://windowsitpro.com/article/articleid/98588/q-how-can-i-set-usb-devices-to-read-only-via-group-policy.html

Caroline from editorial March 17, 2008 (Article Rating:

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