USB Flash Drives

[Tom Gardner]

Hello.

I did some quick research on this issue and could not find anything that
directly related to it; so I figured I'd ask in these forums. Any
insights you can offer would be appreciated. (Please excuse the
cross-posting.)

Currently, at our library, we do not allow patrons to use Flash drives
on our public PCs because we have Fortres on all public PCs and Fortres
is set to disallow access to the taskbar. Of course, to stop the USB
device, you have to be able to access the little icon that appears on
the taskbar. With Fortres, access to the taskbar is, as far as we can
figure, an all-or-nothing proposition: we'd like to be able to allow
patrons access to the "Stop USB Device" icon if doing so didn't give
them access to everything else you can get to from the taskbar - which
is virtually everything.

My question: USB devices are supposedly hot-swappable, so taking them
out without stopping them first should pose no risk to the PC. Assuming
the patron has saved the document she is accessing on the USB device,
and has closed the associated application, there *should*, as well, be
no risk to the data or USB device itself when you remove it without
stopping it first.

That, at least, is my understanding.

I know of one public library in our county - one that is not part of the
county system - that disallows access to the taskbar on public PCs (as
we do), but still allows the use of USB drives. In over a year, they
have had no problems with data loss or equipment failure that could be
attributed to failing to stop the USB drives before removing them.

Does anybody else out there disable access to the "Stop USB Device" icon
yet still allow the public to use Flash Drives/USB drives? 

I would also be interested if anyone has any experiences of equipment
damage - eith to the USB drive or the PC - from removing the USB drive
from the port without first stopping it.

Thanks in advance for any help.

--
Tom Gardner
Mercer County Library
Webmaster
tgardner at mcl.org
609-882-2134