XP SP2 requires Admin rights for USB Flash Drive (Mass Storage Device)

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newsgroups

I recently inherited a few labs of computers which have some difficulty
when attempting to use a USB Mass Storage Device, such as a USB Flash
Drive or a USB Hard Drive. These machines are running Windows XP Pro
SP2 joined to a domain.
When a (non-administrative) user plugs the USB drive in, Windows begins
detecting new hardware then displays "You must be a member of the
Administrators group on this computer to install this hardware" and
prompts for an administrative user/password. If I click cancel,
Windows will display that there was a problem installing the hardware
and it may not work correctly, yet the hardware seems to work fine.
I believe (though am not certain) that SP2 caused this issue. I've
looked through the security policies and haven't found anything really
related. I tried allowing all interactive users to eject and format
removable media, but that did not resolve the issue. Any
thoughts/suggestions would be appreciated, as our users commonly use
USB Flash drives.

Thank you,
Eric Kotz
(e-mail address removed)
 
P

Pavel A.

This is not because of SP2. Looks like somebody tampered with system provided
INF files and/or driver files.
This could be done exactly with purpose to disable non admin users
to use flash drives. Then you need to restore these files -
which requires admin permissions as well.

Regards,
--PA
 
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newsgroups

Well, all I know is the problems showed up about the same time SP2 was
installed. Unfortuntely it pre-dates me.
I am the current admin, and it wasn't done intentionally by the
previous Admin. If you can give me some files/permissions to check, I
can try that.

Thanks!
 
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newsgroups

They drivers do install automatically as an Admin, however, at the end
of the installation, the standard "Add New Hardware" dialog box comes
up and says I must restart to finish installing the hardware, with a
finish button.

Thanks,
Eric Kotz
(e-mail address removed)
 
P

Pavel A.

They drivers do install automatically as an Admin, however, at the end
of the installation, the standard "Add New Hardware" dialog box comes
up and says I must restart to finish installing the hardware, with a
finish button.

This is strange. I would suspect some 3d party software, or antivirus.
Maybe even some malware.

--PA
 
A

Adam Raguirovich

Did anyone come up with a solution to this? I have been trying at my
workplace to fix the same problem. Tried many, many things. Even given
everyone the 'Install and Unload device drivers' right, but still I haven't
had any success trying anything.
 

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