Hi,

In a LAN environment (Windows 2003 as the server O/S and Windows XP and the O/S on client machines) how can we control/limit the use of USB ports and CD/DVD drives? Do we need to use some software for this or are their built-in features etc. (like the concept of Administrator, and Group policies, etc.) that can be used to achieve this?

The one problem that I can think of is that if USB ports are locked/blocked then how will users be able to use their mouse and keyboards? The reason to control/limit use of USB ports is so that someone might not plug-in a USB stick and either introduce virus into the LAN or copy important and sensitive files. I know that they can easily email the files to someone but the idea is to minimize the risks even though they cannot be totally controlled. We also want to control the use CD drives so that users can not I) Burn data on CD's and ii) install software on their own

Will appreciate some good and simple solution (if one exists).

Thanks

How can I prevent users from connecting to a USB storage device?

Let me google that for you

Thanks Perito. Will go through the URL's and hope I will find the solutions. Will it also help me control the CD/DVD drive?

CD/DVD drives are usually not connected to the USB Bus, so the answer is "no".

If you have a login controller you can set Group policies on the user that can prevent use of USB and CD drives.

It seems like I will have to explore the Group Policy thing as the solution.

Thanks to everyone for their replies and help.