It is important to protect yourself from viruses and other malware exploits. Commonly used pipeline malware is USB drives. We can plug these things in day in and day out, moving from computer to computer without knowing that a worm is also with us. An easy way to avoid this is to scan your drive from time to time, but we don’t always do that. Another simple way is to disable the ability to write files to the drive.
To disable writing to USB drives is a hassle if you frequently need to put new information on them. However, if you are using an external drive to scan for viruses on an infected computer, it is important to disable the possibility of malware entering your drive. This is when you want to turn that off. Also, if you’re using a computer with sensitive files, turn off burning to make sure no one can copy that document with the offer of an easy removable drive.
We will look at two ways to enable protection from writing data to a USB drive. One involves a small program and the other is registry editing.
Enable write protection with Ratool
Sordum.org has a tool called ratool Enable the removable drive to be read-only. Download Ratool here. The tool is portable, so there aren’t any installation files except the one Ratool.exe programme. Launch this to open the software.
There are three options to choose from. Choose the first one to enable both read and write. This is the default state of any USB device. This selection simply resumes the drive’s native state. the second option is Allow read-onlythat’s what we are looking for to enable write protection.
Click Apply changes to continue. Results for read-only access take effect only when the USB drives have been re-inserted.
Results are visible immediately after unplugging any device. Now any new USB devices plugged in will be protected.
Ratool worked fine until someone realized the program was blocking their access. They can easily turn it off the same way it was turned on. However, unless you set a password. Generate password from Options > Change password menu item.
Cool Tip: Learn how to create a hidden partition on a USB drive in this post.
Now close Ratool so next time it is launched a password is required to make any changes.
Now if you or anyone else wants to change the settings that Ratool has set, then you need a password to do so.
Tweak the Windows Registry to disable USB recording
While Ratool is great at what it does, being able to edit the registry is something you prefer. No extra download needed and pretty simple changes where you realize what’s going on behind the scenes. (make sure you back up the registry first)
Open re-register from the Start menu or Run dialog (Windows key + CHEAP).
Navigate to this directory: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies.
If directory Storage Device Policy does not exist, right click Control folder and create it there.
Name the new key Storage device policy.
Right-click the newly created folder and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Name this new value Write protect. Open the new value and make it Value data Number one (first).
Now any newly imported device plugged in via USB will not be able to write data to it. You must remove any devices that are currently plugged in for the registry changes to take effect. To fully restore writing functionality, simply delete this Write protect enter or change the value to 0 (0).
Conclusion
Regardless of the reason for wanting to protect your USB drive, either of these methods will work. I recommend Ratool for temporary disable as it is easily editable. Registry changes are a bit more permanent in that you need to drill down into the editor to make changes.
Categories: How to
Source: thpttranhungdao.edu.vn/en/
