How To Restrict Access To Drives In My Computer In Windows

If you have a shared or public computer that several people use, you might want to restrict
access to it’s drives to prevent users from deleting important data. Today we look at
restricting access to some or all drives on the machine using Local Group Policy.

Note: This method uses Local Group Policy Editor which is not available on home versions
of Windows 7 or Vista

First type gpedit.msc in the search box of the Start Menu and hit Enter.

Now navigate to User Configuration \ Administrative Templates \ Windows Components \

Windows Explorer. Then on the right side under Setting, double click on Prevent access to
drives from My Computer.
Select Enable then under Options from the drop down menu you can restrict a certain drive,
a combination of drives, or restrict them all. The main drive you would probably want to
restrict is the C:\ drive or which ever lettered drive Windows is installed on. Restricting all
drives means they can’t access the CD or DVD drive, and cannot use a flash drive if they
need to get files from it.

Note: This setting won’t prevent users from using programs that access the local drives.
The restrictions take effect immediately, no restart is required. When a user opens up My
Computer they’ll be able to see which drives are listed, but when they try to access a
restricted drive, they’ll get the following error message.

For the screenshots in this tutorial we used Windows 7 Ultimate, but this process also works
with XP Professional and Vista (not in Home versions) the screens just look different.
Local Group Policy allows you to customize several settings for how you want to administer
your machine. Restricting access to certain drives in addition to other security and access
measures, can help keep a shared computer stable and secure.
How To Hide Local Disk in my Computer

Steps

1. Click on the "Start" button. Go to "Run", type "gpedit.msc" and press enter.
2. Wait for the "Group Policy" window to appear. Click on the "+" button beside User
Configuration then click on the "+" button beside "Administrative Templates". Then click
the "+" button beside "Windows Components" and then click "Windows Explorer", or
"File Explorer"

3. Search for "Hide these specified drives in My Computer" in the options that
appear in the right column of the window. Double click it, enable it and choose the
drive(s) you wan
4. Search for "Prevent access to drives from My Computer". Double click it and repeat
the previous step if you want to stop accessing any drive by "command" (e.g, by typing
"C:" in the address bar or "Run").
5. Close the group policy window.
6. Restart your computer for changes to take effect.

How to Hide Desktop Icons

Type gpedit.msc into the Run dialogue box and click the OK button. If you don’t
have the Run command on your Start menu, you can alternatively hold down
the Windows key on your keyboard and press the R key.

You should now be looking at the Local Group Policy Editor window. In the left
hand pane of the window, click on User Configuration>Administrative
Templates>Desktop. Be sure to click on the Desktop folder itself and not the arrow
that expands it.
In the right hand pane, locate an entry titled Hide and Disable All Items on the
Desktop. Double click this entry to edit it.
You should now be looking at the Hide and Disable All Items on the
Desktop window. If you or anyone else has never adjusted this policy, the current
option should be Not Configured. Click on the Enabled button, click the OK button,
and close any windows that remain open. The policy will take effect once you log
out and log in or restart the PC.

How to Disable Task Manager

This method shows you how to Disable/Enable Task Manager from Group Policy
Please perform the following steps:

Please go to Pearl button (Start) and click on the Search programs and files
For more information about the change from Start to Pearl button click here

Type gpedit.msc and press Enter

In the Group Policy window please navigate to User Configuration -> Administrative
Templates ->
System -> Ctrl+Alt+Del Options and open Remove Task Manager
The Default state is Not Configured and Task Manager is Enable
To Enable taskmgr select Disable
To Disable taskmgr select Enable

To finish press ok button and close Group Policy window

Regedit:
This method shows you how to Disable/Enable Task Manager from Registry Editor
Please perform the following steps:

Please go to Pearl button (Start) and click on the Search programs and files
For more information about the change from Start to Pearl button click here

Type regedit and press ok

Please confirm UAC pop-ups in order to continue

Microsoft official disclaimer

Warning Serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly by using Registry Editor
or by
using another method. These problems might require that you reinstall the operating system.
Microsoft
cannot guarantee that these problems can be solved. Modify the registry at your own risk.

Please navigate
to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies
\System and locate DisableTaskMgr registrykey
Double click on DisableTaskMgr and edit the value:

To Disable Task Manager:

Change the data value with 1

To Enable Task Manager:

Change the data value with 0

To finish press ok button and close Registry Editor window