Windows 10: Enable or Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices in Windows

How to: Enable or Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices in Windows

How to Enable or Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices in Windows


Users are allowed read and write access to all removable storage devices they connect to the computer by default in Windows.

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable read and write access to all removable storage devices for all users in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

*Warning You must be signed in as an administrator to enable or disable read and write access to all removable storage devices.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: Enable or Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices in Local Group Policy Editor
• Option Two: Enable or Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices using a REG file

EXAMPLE: Access is denied to a removable disk









OPTION ONE [/i] Enable or Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices in Local Group Policy Editor
*note In Windows 7, the Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions.

In Windows 8, the Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Pro and Enterprise editions.

In Windows 10, the Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option Two.
1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. Navigate to the key below in the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Removable Storage Access




3. In the right pane of Removable Storage Access in Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the All Removable Storage classes: Deny all access policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

4. Do step 5 (enable) or step 6 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


5. To Enable Access to All Removable Storage Devices
A) Select (dot) Not Configured or Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

*note Not Configured is the default setting.

6. To Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices
A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)




7. Close the Local Group Policy Editor.

8. Restart the computer to apply.





OPTION TWO [/i] Enable or Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices using a REG file

*note The downloadable .reg files below will modify the DWORD value in the registry keys below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\RemovableStorageDevices

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\RemovableStorageDevices

Deny_All DWORD

(delete) = Enable
1 = Disable


1. Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Enable Access to All Removable Storage Devices
*note This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Enable_access_to_all_removable_storage_devices.reg

Download

3. To Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Disable_access_to_all_removable_storage_devices.reg

Download
4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6. When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. Restart the computer to apply.

8. You could now delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Enable or Disable Installation of Removable Devices in Windows
• How to Enable or Disable Write Protection for a Disk Drive in Windows
• Allow or Deny Write Access to Removable Drives not Protected by BitLocker in Windows
• Disable Adding Locations on Removable Drives to Index and Libraries in Windows 10
• How to Add Enable or Disable USB Storage Devices Connection context menu in Windows

:)

 

Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices

Prevent users from writing or reading files and folders for a removable drive.


Code:

*ArrowEnable or Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices in Windows

 

Internal Storage devices being detected as removable devices

Hi,

I would suggest you to update your storage controller driver.

Method 1: Update Storage Controller Driver

Follow the steps.

• Press Windows key + X key and click Device Manager.
• Expand the Storage Controller.
• Right-click on the Storage controller Driver
  and select Update Driver Software.
• Wait for sometime and check if the issue persists.
• Restart your system.

Method 2: Uninstall and then reinstall Storage Controller driver from the Manufacturer's Website

Follow the steps.

• Press Windows key + X key and click Device Manager.
• Expand the Storage Controller.
• Right-click on the Storage controller Driver
  and select Uninstall.
• Now, go to the Manufacturer's website and download the latest storage controller driver.
• Once the download is complete, double-click and run the setup file to complete installation.
• Restart your system.

Hope this helps. Please respond if you have further related queries.

Regards,

 

Re-enable audio device

Hi,

I would be happy to assist you.

Before we proceed with troubleshooting, I would need little information on the issue.

• Are using speakers / head phones to listen to audio?

If you have disabled the audio device, then you might not see it under the list of playback devices. I would suggest you to follow these steps to make sure you see the disabled devices:

• • 
    Open
    Control panel.
    
  • 
    Click Hardware and Sound and then Click on
    Sounds.
    
  • 
    Under Playback tab, right click on the empty area and make sure
    “Show Disabled Devices” has a check mark on it. If headphones/Speakers are disabled, it will now show up in the list.
    
  • 
    Right click on the device and
    Enable it. Click OK.
    

If the issue still persists, try enabling speakers automatically using steps below.

• 
  Go to Settings> Click on themes> Advance sound settings> right click on the speakers or the audio device youo have connected > click on
  Configure device.
  
• 
  Test the sound level you want, click Next.
  
• 
  And configure the audio devices.
  

Hope this helps you. Do reply if you need further assistance on Windows 10.

Thank you.

 

Remove Devices

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



I understand that you are facing issues while removing the device from your Microsoft account as it keeps popping back after removing.



It could be possible that the device was using OneDrive with the same Microsoft account and that might be the reason you are able to see the device listed under your profile. I would suggest you to remove the device from OneDrive
and see if that helps.



You can follow the steps to remove the device from OneDrive.

1. Login to
   https://onedrive.live.com.
2. Now on the left hand pane click on PC’s.
3. Now click on the devices that are listed under PC’s and on the right hand side click on
   Remove PC.

If the issue persists, please get back to us with the results of the troubleshooting steps to assist you further.



Regards,

Prakhar Khare

Microsoft Community – Moderator

 

Easy enable/disable microphone?

My bro just got a microphone and I was wondering if there's an easy way to enable or disable it. I know you can right click on the volume icon, click on select recording devices then select the microphone, then click properties, then click on levels, and mute it - but that's just way too many steps, I'm looking for a more obvious and much easier way to do it.