Disable USB Ports using Registry WinXP

 If a USB storage device is already installed on the computer, you can change the registry to make sure that the device does not work when the user connects to the computer.

This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

If a USB storage device is already installed on the computer, set the Start value in the following registry key to 4:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor

Prevent users from connecting USB device

 Assume that you want to prevent users from connecting to a USB storage device that is connected to a computer that is running Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, or Windows 2000.

If a USB storage device is not already installed on the computer, assign the user or the group and the local SYSTEM account Deny permissions to the following files: