When loaning your computer for use by someone else, it's always a good idea to be careful with everything that can be put into it. For example, a common source of viruses and unwanted files may come from external USB drives or hard drives, which easily connect to your computer via the USB port
If you are on a network, there are some policies in Windows that block such devices, but if you are using the device outside of a network, there is a simpler trick to block the use of external USB flash drives on your device
To perform this above mentioned task, you will need to make a change to the system registry. Therefore, it is recommended to create a restore point or make a copy of your important files before proceeding with the procedure. Moreover, it must be said that the procedure can be easily reversed in case you want to restore it to its previous state, as shown below.
How to block external USB flash drives in Windows on your computer
To perform this operation, as well as other in-depth system tweaks, you must have an account with administrator privileges. Check how to proceed
Press "Win + R" keys together to open the "Run" window and enter the command: regedit. Press Enter
From the menu on the left side of the screen, navigate to this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SYSTEM \ CurrentControlSet \ Services \ UsbStor
Double click on "Start".
Change the value to "4" and click "OK"
Restart your computer
After restarting your device, when you connect an external USB device or hard drive, you will not be able to access it through File Explorer in Windows. It should be noted that such a change can also affect some cell phones, which sometimes identifies themselves as an external storage device
To restore this setting, all you have to do is to re-access the same registry and change its value back to "3", not to delete the original record under any circumstances as this will cause you problems within the system
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