As you all know, USB flash drives enable the transfer of files between the PCs. They offer portability to its users. To share important and large files, you can rely on USB flash drives. Colleges, libraries, offices, etc. everywhere USB flash drives are used.
Well, connecting USB flash drives into the PC may invite viruses and malwares also. This may not be good news for the users. Such viruses and malwares can have a bad impact on the overall performance of your system.
The use of USB flash drives should not harm the functioning of your computer.
So, being a responsible employee of an organisation or say a responsible USB user, it is your responsibility to adopt some safe computing techniques.
What can be the safe techniques to protect the USB flash drives? What are the safe computing techniques? Let’s check it out.
Safe USB and Computing Techniques
In this article, you will learn about tips to protect your USB from getting infected. Also, how to protect your computer from an infected USB flash drive.
1. Securing the USB flash drive
In this method, you will require the permission of NTFS file format. How can we secure the USB flash drive using this method? Let’s check it below.
Remember, you cannot convert the USB flash drive to NTFS, if it is less than 2 GB in size. This may affect the performance of the USB flash drive.
Let’s move on to the steps:
Step 1. Firstly, you need to insert the USB flash drive. After that, go to the Device Manager.
Step 2. Secondly, right-click on the name of the USB drive. Select Properties option there. You will find it all under the disk drives option.
Step 3. Under the Removal policy option, select the Policies menu and click on Better Performance option.
Step 4. You can now right-click on the USB drive option. Select the Format menu. You will see these options in the computer option.
Step 5. From the Drop Down menu, select the NTFS file system option.
Step 6. At the end, click on the Start option to start formatting the USB drive with the help of NTFS file system.
To keep the USB drive read-only, you need to follow three steps to configure the security permissions.
Step 1. In the Computer option, you can right-click on the USB drive option. Then select Properties option.
Step 2. Click on the Security option. Make sure that on the root folder,‘Everyone’ has read-only rights.
Step 3. It’s time to create a folder named ‘Write’. Give it the permission to read or write.
This is done to protect your USB flash drive from the virus detected in your PC if any. Also, you can save your data to the ‘Write’ folder.
2. USB drivers should be updated
USB drivers are a part of an operating system. It is essential to update USB drivers for Windows 10, whenever they become old or faulty or damaged.
To protect the computer from any performance issues the USB drivers should be updated to their latest versions.
Faulty USB drivers may create issues like,
- They do not get recognized by the PC.
- If the computer recognizes the device, a yellow warning icon indicates that the device is not in a good condition.
- Your PC recognizes the device, but it does not work properly.
- The USB device drivers get corrupted or damaged by Malwares.
- A wrong driver installed can even crash your system.
The USB device drivers can be updated by various methods.
You can look for the best driver update software tools (free as well as paid) available in the market. You can also update the drivers by visiting the manufacturer’s website, by using the Device Manager and by using Windows update.
You can protect your computer from so many issues, just by timely updating the device drivers.
3. Keep Windows Safe from USB Drive Virus Attack
To stop the virus in the USB flash drive from harming your PC, you should disable the autorun feature of the removable devices.
Step 1. Open the Registry Editor. To do so, go to the Run option and then click on regedit.
Step 2. To disable the autorun feature for all users, use the below key:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
For one user, follow this key below:
HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer
Step 3. Now you can create a new Hex value with the name NoDriveTypeAutoRun.
Step 4. You can change the value of the created key to 4 (HEX).
Step 5. At the end, restart the Windows Explorer.
Like this you can disable the autorun feature of all the removable devices.
Conclusion:
This is how you can apply various tricks to protect the USB flash drive as well as your computer. If you face any safety and security issues, you can go through this article for help.
Have a safe USB and Computing experience. Good Luck!
