How to remove Drive letters using GPO

[Ayush]

Hello Friends,

I'm having Windows 2003 server on my system and it up to date. There are many drives on my system and i would like to remove the drive letters by using GPO. Some how i managed to hide my A,B,C,D drives but would like to
remove access to drives such as V,H, and K using GPO's. So, can any one tell me that how can i do so by using GPO? Does any body knows about it? Kindly help me out to resolve the above issue?

Thanks a lot.

[Devasis]

With Group Policy Objects in Windows, there is a "Hide these specified drives in My Computer" option that lets you hide specific drives. However, it may be necessary to hide only certain drive, but retain access to others.

There are seven default options for restricting access to drives. You can add other restrictions by modifying the System.adm file for the default domain policy or any custom Group Policy Object (GPO). The seven default selections are:

• Restrict A, B, C and D drives only
• Restrict A, B and C drives only
• Restrict A and B drives only
• Restrict all drives
• Restrict C drive only
• Restrict D drive only
• Do not restrict drives

Microsoft does not recommend to change the System.adm file, but instead to create a new .adm file and import this .adm into the GPO. The reason is that if you apply changes to the system.adm file, these changes might get overwritten if Microsoft releases a new version of the system.adm file in a Service Pack.

[MrChris-]

Well you could use a batch file with something like: net use f: /d

Substituting F for your drive letter.

[Solomon]

You can change the letter assignments in the Windows Disk Management Console with a lot of mouse clicks but you have to do it again for every new device.

To change the assigned drive letter open Computer Management from the Administrative Tools folder, or by right-clicking My Computer--> Manage.Expand Storage--> Disk Management. There you'll see the USB disk with its original drive letter (or no drive letter at all, depending on your OS). Right-click the partition on the removable disk and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.In the Change Drive Letter and Paths For window, click Change.In the Change Drive Letter and Paths window, click the drive letter drop down list and select the right drive letter.You will be prompted about the fact that some programs or shortcuts might stop working if you change the disk's drive letter. Click Yes.

[Calvin K]

Open group policy editor once again.

1. Go to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Security Settings -> Local Policies -> Security Options

2. Choose the policy "Network access: sharing security model for local accounts" and set it to "Classic - local users authenticate as themselves"