I would like to set up a restriction so that a guest user cannot use any of the USB ports on my PC.
Mweni Chibwa
Usually, this kind of facility is provided via an Active Directory (AD) server and Group Policies, but home versions of Windows don't support Group Policies. Microsoft Knowledge Base article 823732 has a workaround for Windows XP that involves editing the registry. However, searching for "USB blocker" will turn up examples of utilities that will do the job, including NetWrix USB blocker, which is free.
There's also uHook USB Disk Security v2.2, which provides more comprehensive data-theft defences, and, it says, "is designed keeping in mind the requirement of a home PC user". It costs £13.74, but there's a trial version.
