How to Enable or Disable USB Ports In

Windows 7

You might have noticed that when you attach your USB drive to a computer at your
school or office and computer doesn’t respond? It is because the administrator has
disabled the USB ports and therefore, USB drives are not recognized.

Disabling access to USB ports is a great way to stop unauthorized users to transfer or
steal data from your computer. Some might feel it is a cumbersome process, but do not
worry as we have you totally covered.

In this article, we have listed a few ways to enable/disable USB ports in Windows 7.

1. Steps to Disable or Enable USB Drives By Making Changes In Registry –

You can make changes in your Registry files to enable or disable the USB ports in
Windows 7. Follow these steps:
 Go to Start Menu, type “Regedit” in the Search box to open Registry Editor.
 Navigate to this key –
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\USBSTOR
 In the right-hand panel, look for Start and right click on it.

 A sub-menu will appear, choose Modify

 A small pop-up window will open, check if the value is 3.

 If yes, then the port is already enabled. Change the value to 4 to disable the port.

 Click OK to apply changes.

Also Read: 10 Best USB Port Blocker Software

 2. Uninstall/Reinstall USB Mass Storage Drivers –

Another way to enable/disable the USB ports is, to install/uninstall the USB drivers. If
you wish to use your USB device on your work computer or stop anyone from using
your computer to transfer data, then follow these steps to uninstall USB drivers:

 Go to Start Menu, type “devmgmt.msc” in the Search box to open Device Manager.

 Click on the Universal Serial Bus Controllers.

 You will get the list of USB ports.

 Right Click on the USB port and uninstall the driver to disable the port.

Note: If you wish to install the USB driver in future,  plug-in your USB drive and
Windows will check for drivers. If not found, Windows will prompt you to install the
driver.

3. Disable USB Ports from Device Manager

You can disable/enable or disalbe the USB ports through Device Manager. If you wish
to use your USB device on your work computer or stop anyone from using your
computer to transfer data, then follow these steps to disable USB drivers:
 Go to Start Menu, type “devmgmt.msc” in the Search box to open Device Manager.

 Click on the Universal Serial Bus Controllers.

 You will get the list of USB ports.

 Right click on the USB port and disable/enable the port.

4. Disconnect USB

It is not possible to disconnect all the USB ports from a motherboard, but you can
disconnect those which are on the top and front of the computer by plugging out the
cable from USB header. Disconnecting these ports can prevent people from easily
misusing them for their benefit.

5. Enable/Disable USB Ports Using Third-Party Software –

 SysTools USB Blocker

 You can also enable or disable the USB ports by using a third-party tool. There are
many free tools available. One of them is SysTools USB Blocker. It allows you to block
all USB ports from any machine. All you need is your login credentials for the machine
to block or unblock ports. It also provides an option to recover lost user password
through your email address. The tool can block or unblock unlimited USB ports of
various laptops and computers. The software comes with a rich and intuitive interface.

 USB Block
Another one is USB Block. This software can easily enable and disable USB ports. It
prevents data leakage from your devices like USB drives, network computer. You can
put your USB device as an exception in Whitelist, and access it on your computer. It
also checks the log of any illegal activity to keep your computer secu

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