The spread of viruses is mainly due to the incorrect use of internet and the misuse of external media like the USB or Pen Drives. Windows has an auto-run function enabled by default so whenever a USB drive is plugged in, Windows automatically recognizes it and performs a default action like opening the contents of the drive.
Viruses and malware use this method to propagate. When an infected USB drive is plugged into the system, the malware automatically starts up using the auto-run of the drive. This way the malware spreads very quickly.
Today I found out a neat utility which can write protect your USB drive. This comes in handy when you have a virus in your system and you have some fixing tools in your USB drive. You just write protect the USB drive, plug it in and then use the tools on it. In this way, your USB drive will not be affected by any kind of additional viruses which are on the infected system where you plugged in the USB drive.
The name of the utility is Thumbscrew. It sits in system try from where you can enable or disable the write protect function of the USB drive.
Download Thumbscrew (233 KB)