Windows 10: Enable or Disable Installation of Removable Devices in Windows

How to: Enable or Disable Installation of Removable Devices in Windows

How to Enable or Disable Installation of Removable Devices in Windows


By default, Windows will install removable devices (ex: USB flash drive) when first connected to your PC.

If you like, you can enable a group policy setting that prevents Windows from installing removable devices and existing removable devices cannot have their drivers updated. If you enable this policy setting on a remote desktop server, the policy setting affects redirection of removable devices from a remote desktop client to the remote desktop server.

Users will still be able to use removable devices that have already been connected and installed prior to enabling the group policy.

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable the installation of removable 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 installation of removable devices.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: Enable or Disable Installation of Removable Devices in Local Group Policy Editor
• Option Two: Enable or Disable Installation of Removable Devices using a REG file

EXAMPLE: When installation of removable devices is disabled











OPTION ONE [/i] Enable or Disable Installation of Removable 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\Device Installation\Device Installation Restrictions




3. In the right pane of Device Installation Restrictions in Local Group Policy Editor, double click/tap on the Prevent installation of removable devices 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 Installation of Removable 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 Installation of Removable Devices
A) Select (dot) Enabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)




7. When finished, you can close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.





OPTION TWO [/i] Enable or Disable Installation of Removable Devices using a REG file

*note The downloadable .reg files below will add and modify the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\DeviceInstall\Restrictions

DenyRemovableDevices 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 Installation of Removable 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_installation_of_removable_devices.reg

Download

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

Disable_installation_of_removable_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

• 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 Enable or Disable Automatic Mounting of New Disks and Drives in Windows
• How to Enable or Disable Access to All Removable Storage Devices in Windows

:)

 

windows xp installation and dual core am

could someone please list the steps they follow to install windows with a dual core processor and windows xp service pack to. I'm reletively new to amd dual core and i feel i'm missing a step. All help will be appreciated. thanx

 

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.

 

HyperSLI (Enabling SLI on non-sli motherboards)

Boot problems

Hi everyone.

I've got some problems during instalation. I disabled UAC, passed the first install step, rebooted and completed install. But after consequent reboot Windows detects 'ntoskrnl' or something is corrupted.

Everything was fine on 'old' windows, but after I made a clean windows installation, everything goes this way.

Any suggestions?

 

Windows 7 install hangs at "completing installation"

Fix: Windows 7 install hangs at "completing installation"

I am aware that this Thread is rather old but I still want to make a reply as it came up right at the top my google search for "install windows freezes on completing installation".

Hi all,

Follow each point carefully and hopefully you'll avoid the frustration I went through! I find singing to myself semi-manically helps during such times...

To begin

Minimize comp configuration:
- Only 1 HDD; simply unplug all HDDs except the one you'll be installing to
- Only one chip of RAM (2GB in my case); (primary ram slot is usually closest to the processor)
- Only PS2 keyboard; (actually worked for me using USB keyboard)
- Should be fine to leave your video card/wireless card in

So, the back of your computer should now only have a power cable, DVI/VGA/HDMI and PS2/USB keyboard plugged in. Also, possibly a USB stick if you're using a USB flash drive to install (guide to creating a bootable Windows install flash drive here: How to Install Windows 7 Via a USB Drive | The Mighty Geek)

Step 0, Optimize HDD as recommended at : (SSD / HDD : Optimize for Windows Reinstallation - Windows 7 Help Forums) I found this worked best by using CMD both to "cleanall" (not just "clean") and format NTFS

Step 1, Ensure BIOS boot order is set to boot from CD/DVD (or USB flash drive). With the Windows 7 DVD (or USB Flash drive) in your DVD drive , press any key when prompted 'Press any key to boot from CD / DVD...', as soon as the message is gone, quickly press F8 to show the boot options list. Select Safe Mode and install 7. It will allow the initial stages & file copying.

Step 2, When the Window 7 installation has completed all the stages, such as copying, expanding, installing features, and then installing updates, it is going to restart; REMOVE THE DVD/USB BEFORE THE RESTART! Once restarted, you can reconfigure BIOS to boot from your HDD (if you miss this then you will be you will be prompted to choose the boot device, choose HDD).

Step 3, When 7 restarts for the first time, spam F8 and select 'safe mode'. When you boot to SAFE MODE wait for a few minutes at the "SETUP IS STARTING WINDOWS FOR THE FIRST TIME" screen, then you'll get the popup that states "WINDOWS CANNOT CONTINUE SETUP IN SAFE MODE, CLICK OK TO RESTART"
NOTE: DO NOT restart, AND DO NOT click on the 'X' (close button) in the upper-right of the pop-up. You are going to do steps 4, 5 & 6 first before clicking to restart!!!!!

Step 4, Simply press SHIFT+F10 (possibility of not working with USB keyboards although worked for me) - that will bring up a COMMAND PROMPT after a few seconds.

Step 5 From there you can enter COMPMGMTLAUNCHER

Step 6: Go to your device manager and disable:
- ALL your drivers that display the YELLOW TRIANGLE.
- ALL "unknown" device(s) drivers in any category.
(this can be time consuming using only a keyboard so use the "tab" key to cycle through menus, the "D" key to disable drivers and the "Y" key to confirm)

Also keep in mind that Video is always a huge culprit... just disable ALL unknown devices and ALL yellow triangles...

If you DO NOT know which is causing the problem AND you CANNOT see an obvious with a YELLOW TRIANGLE or EXCLAMATION POINT in Device Manager then try disabling any and changing any services from automatic to disabled for any that you don't recognize or that seem VENDOR (software or hardware) specific.

Step 7: Once you have disabled all of your drivers press alt+F4 to exit. You can now close command window by clicking ok on the dialog box. Windows will now use a standard (with less functionality) when it restarts. The final setup should now complete successfully.

Once the installation has finished (congratulations by the way) and you actually have a screen up & running you should be able to install your original drivers as well as re-enable these and devices A really useful site to identify/audit the components you'll need to download drivers for can be found at Products: Belarc Advisor

Note: If you successfully install Windows 7 using this guide, but but are left with a corrupted or missing driver(s), I would suggest enabling only the internet driver and re-downloading all your drivers from the manufacture site.


I didn't write this entirely myself; I compiled and edited information from a few sources after exhausting a silly amount of options and time trying to fix this issue. Credit goes to SheilaP from http://social.technet.microsoft.com...66-17c6-46e8-94e2-dd39b5b504c1?prof=required; and MKtorn from Windows 7 Freezes at "Completing Installation" Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums

Hope this helped!

SirYandi

 

Windows 10 Update disabled\removed wireless device

Hi Tom,



Apologize for the difficulties that you're experiencing in Windows 10, and we appreciate the steps you have taken so far to fix this issue.

• 
  From what version of Widows you have upgraded to Windows 10?
  
• 
  Have you installed any third party security software on your computer?
  

This issue could have occurred due to conflict between third party antivirus software.

Let us try the following steps, and check if it helps.



Step 1: As an initial step, I suggest you to disable antivirus software (and any other security software) and firewall on the computer as a test and check if that fixes the issue.



Disclaimer: Antivirus software helps protecting your computer against viruses and other security threats. In most cases, you shouldn't disable your antivirus software. If you have to temporarily disable it to install other
software and\or troubleshoot any pertinent issue, you should re-enable it as soon as you're done. If you are connected to the Internet or a network while your antivirus software is disabled, your computer is vulnerable to malware attacks.



Step 2: I recommend you to follow the steps suggested by

RajithR (replied on August 1, 2015) in the following thread and check if it helps.



After upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, no wireless networks are available

After upgrading from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10, no wireless networks are available



Hope it helps.



Let us know the status, we are glad to assist you further.