Disabling USB Devices in Windows XP

[Roger Oepkes]

We are running an NT 4 network and are in the process of
deploying several hundred XP workstations. My management
has concerns about the plug and play nature of XP in
regard to USB devices. My research so far tells me that we
have at least the following options.

1) Disable the USB ports via the BIOS. Problem here is
that we don't want to password protect the BIOS. This is
also hardware restricted and would require a physical
visit each time we want to change things.

2) Disable the USB devices in the device manager. This
will protect changes by the users, but individuals(with
admin rights) can log on locally and change things. We'd
like domain wide control if possible.

3) Since we are not running Active Directory, I have used
what is available and created a remote device manager mmc.
The problem is that you can only open the remote device
manager in Read Only mode.

What I'm hoping is that some of you may have additional
methods we can explore or can provide information about
active directly that will allow us to restrict the USB
ports in a centralized manner.

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[TrevorB]

Hi

A product that maybe worth you looking at is a product called Disknet
Pro. Disknet Pro allows you to manage access to removable storage
devices including those plugged in via USB. It also enables users to
still use other peripheral devices like mice and keyboards without
problem. www.disknetpro.com. It also seems to offer other features as
well but I am still evaluating those.