Normally, local users who do not have Administrator-level privileges
cannot install new hardware in Windows, including USB storage devices like
USB flash drives. The exception being that if someone with admin-level
access already installed a specific model of USB flash drive on a
computer, someone without admin-level access could plug in the same model
USB flash drive into that computer without a problem.

I came across some info that helped me figure out what needs to be fixed
so you can allow other local users to install USB storage devices.

This would be useful for labs, the library, etc where machines are locked
down but you still want to give users the ability to use USB flash drives
so they can access their files, etc.

All you need to do is login once on a computer with an admin account and
run my script. After the script is run, Users and Power Users will be
able to install USB flash drives.

This simple script was written in the AutoIt v3 scripting language
(http://www.hiddensoft.com). Source code is included.