The new USB pen drive installation mechanism on XP machines works with two files stored in the Windows/Inf folder: usbstor.inf and usbstor.pnf.
To disable this function, you must deny access to the "System" built-in user group for the XP machine.
However, on large networks, changing the permissions for these two files on each individual machine is a hassle. However, you can easily incorporate these permissions into your log-on script as shown below:
cd\
cd c:\windows\inf echo|y cacls usbstor.inf /p system:n echo|y cacls usbstor.pnf /p system:n
Now any new USB pen drives connected to the PCs will not be automatically installed. To enable access, you will have to change the n's in the script to f's.
Please let us know how useful you find this tip by rating it below! If you have a useful Windows tip, timesaver or workaround to share, submit it to our
Requires Free Membership to View
When you register, my team of editors will also send you the latest expert resources covering pertinent IT topics such as Windows server backup and recovery, server administration, storage management, infrastructure security, virtualization, Hyper-V, Active Directory and Group Policy.
Cathleen A. Gagne, Senior Editorial Director
tip contest and you could win a prize!
This was first published in September 2006