Here we show you some ways to write protect or deny access to your USB storage devices. The related settings are mostly stored in the registry so you have to either use Regedit or a third party utility that can do it for you. This could be a useful security measure if you have careless users that constantly insert drives with malicious files. You can also deny access to USB drives completely so they don’t show in Windows at all. Normally you would need a small switch on the device itself to do that. For instance, a drive can be write protected meaning no data can be written to it. Windows has a few hidden away settings that allow a bit more control over access and writing to USB storage devices. Before opening a USB drive with unverified content, it’s always wise to scan it first for malware to be safe. Unfortunately, the rise in portable USB drives has made it easier for malicious files to spread from computer to computer. These days, it is possible to carry around a flash drive or memory card with hundreds of Gigabytes of capacity in your pocket. USB storage devices have been one of the best technology inventions in recent years.