Administrators sometimes have to disable the USB port to prevent unauthorized copying of files and viruses/worms spreading through removable media. Disabling a USB port can be achieved in two ways either through the BIOS or through OS settings. Today I am discussing about the OS tweaks to disable USB ports.
Disabling/Enabling USB in Windows via Registry
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Click on Start.
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Click on Run.
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Type regedit. This will launch the Registry Editor.
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Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\usbstor.
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In the work area, double click on Start.
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Change the value to 4.
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Click on OK.
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Close Registry Editor and refresh your desktop.
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To re-enable access to your USB ports, Change
the value to 3 .
Disabling/Enabling USB in Linux
- Edit /etc/modprobe.d/blacklist.conf
- eg: sudo VI /etc/modprobe. d/blacklist. conf
- Add blacklist usb_storage at the end of the line. Check the below sample screen shot.
- Press a to insert , :qw to save the changes.
- Edit /etc/rc.local eg: sudo vi /etc/rc.local and add the following line modprobe -r usb_storage
- For Debian based distributions add it before exit 0.For redhat based distributions add it before touch /var/local/subsys/local.
- Restart your system.
To enable or mount the device
Open terminal and type this command
sudo modprobe usb_storage
To unmount
sudo rmmod usb_storageDisabling/Enabling in Mac OS
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Log on with an administrator account
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GOTO Terminal
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Rename the file name IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext from terminal sudo mv /System/Library/Extensions/IOUSBMassStorageClass. kext / IOUSBMassStorageClass. kext. backup
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Reboot the machine.
To Enable
Rename IOUSBMassStorageClass.kext.backup to
Original .
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