The CD and DVD drives on your PC represent a major security loophole. For example, if someone is determined to get at the files on your computer then all they have to do is pop in a bootable CD and bypass all of Windows password security. Equally, when your PC is running there’s nothing to stop someone from loading a malicious program from disc, or downloading files onto a recordable disc.

The solution is this tip from Propellerhead, which locks down your optical drives, using a little freeware utility called CD-ROM Lock. The program disables the eject command on one of all of your drives from an icon in the System Tray.

Simply download the Zip file (it’s only 55kb) and extract the files into a folder and run the program. You can then configure the program by clicking on the icon, select the drive or drives you want to lock or manually open and close the selected drive. There’s a full archive of tips and tweaks, plus all of the very best freeware tools and utilities at PCTopTips