How to remove write protection from a flash drive - step-by-step instructions
The era of floppy disks is long gone, but sometimes when trying to write to a flash drive, the user may encounter a situation known since the days of using floppy media - it is blocked and cannot be used.
We will look at how to solve this problem in detail in our article today.
So, you need to write some information to a flash drive, you insert it and receive a message like “The disk is write-protected, remove the protection or use another one.”
This problem can be solved quite quickly, and we will talk about this a little later, but now we should say a few words about the purpose of installing protection against downloading on a digital medium.
Note! This operation is performed for only one purpose - to protect the drive from viruses that can spontaneously be copied to removable media without the user’s knowledge.
Methods for removing write protection from a flash drive
There are 2 key ways to remove protection from a flash drive: hardware and software.
The hardware solution is to install a lock switch, which is present in some drive models, as well as SD cards.
Most often, the toggle switch is located on the side edge of the drive.
Carefully inspect your existing drive and look for an open/closed lock icon or the word Lock on it.
Note! Removing the lock is very simple - just move the lock lever in the opposite direction. That's all. Insert the media into the appropriate slot and repeat the file writing operation again.
The software solution involves the interaction of the operating system and the flash drive controller, which is responsible for the ability to record information.
You can remove write protection using this method using the command line of the registry editor or local group policy in Windows 7/8.
Learn more about all of the above methods.
Removing protection using regedit
1. Click “Start” and enter regedit in the search field. Right-click (RMB) on the program and in the context menu go to the “Run as administrator” item.
2. Go to the StorageDevicePolicies section:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies
Important! Important! If there is no such thing, you will have to create it. To do this, click on the section Control - New - Section. We call it “StorageDevicePolicies” without quotes. If there is no such section, you need to create it.
Create (RMB in the right column of the registry) a DWORD parameter (32 bits) in the created branch. For convenience, let's call the element WriteProtect.
3. Make sure that the WriteProtect value is 0. Right-click on WriteProtect and select “Change”. If the value is “1” you need to change it to “0” and click “Ok”.
4. Close the registry editor, remove the media and restart the computer. Insert the flash drive. Now the flash drive works as usual, allowing you to write files.
Removing protection using Diskpart
If the flash drive could not be unlocked using regedit, let's try to do it using the Diskpart command interpreter, which allows you to manage the commands that the user enters into the command line when working with partitions and disks.
1. “Start”, in the search field enter the name of the Windows command line - cmd. Right-click in the program and select “Run as administrator” in the context menu.
2. Now you should enter the commands: diskpart and list disk, and after entering each of them, press the Enter key.
3. In the list above, determine what serial number in the name the flash drive has.
This can be done based on the specified size, in our case an 8 GB flash drive, presented in the table as “Disk 1” with a capacity of 7441 MB.
4. Select the disk with the “select” command, clear the attributes that allow only reading “attributes disk clear readonly”.
If the flash drive needs formatting, you should enter the following commands: “clean”, create a partition “create partition primary”, format it in NTFS “format fs = ntfs” or FAT “format fs = fat”.
In many companies, specialists install write protection on removable media. This is dictated by the need to protect yourself from information leakage to competitors. But there is another situation when a flash drive is used on several computers, and the best way to protect the information on it from users and viruses is to set a write ban. We will look at several ways to complete this task.
This can be done using the Windows operating system itself, using special software or the hardware capabilities of a USB drive. Let's consider these methods.
Method 1: Use special software
Not every user can confidently work with the registry or operating system utilities (which we'll talk about later). Therefore, for convenience, special software has been created that helps you cope with the described methods by pressing one or two buttons. For example, there is a utility called USB Port Locked, which is designed to block the computer port itself.
The program is easy to use. Moreover, it does not require installation. To use it, do the following:
- Launch it. The standard startup password is "Unlock".
- To block the USB connectors of the machine, select the item "Lock USB Ports" and press exit button "Exit". To unlock them, click "Unlock USB Ports"
This utility helps protect against copying confidential data from your computer to USB drives. But it has a low level of security and is only suitable for ordinary users.
This utility will reliably protect the data on the flash drive from being changed or deleted. It is considered effective because it works at the hardware level. The usage in this case is as follows:
The necessary changes to the system have been made. The program has additional convenient functions, which you can find in the menu "Options".
Another very convenient program for providing write protection on a flash drive is called ToolsPlus USB KEY.
When using a flash drive on a computer, the program asks for a password. And if it is not correct, then the flash drive is turned off. 
The utility runs without installation. For write protection you only need to press one button “OK (minimize to tray)”. When the button is pressed "Settings" you can set up a password and add startup to startup. Write protection is possible with just one press of a button. This program hides in the tray when launched and the average user will not notice it.
The software reviewed is the best protection option for the average user.
Method 2: Use the built-in switch
Method 3: Edit the registry
Method 4: Making Group Policy changes
This method is suitable for a USB drive formatted in NTFS. Read our tutorial on how to make a flash drive with such a file system.
- Insert the flash drive into the computer. Right-click on its icon in "My computer" or "This computer".
- Open the dropdown menu item "Properties". Go to the tab "Safety"
- Under section "Groups and Users" click the button "Change…".
- A list of groups and users will open in a new window. Here, in the list of permissions, uncheck the item "Record" and press the button "Apply".
After such an operation, it will be impossible to write to a flash drive.
There are often cases when, when it is necessary to enter some information onto a flash drive, suddenly the message “disk is write protected” appears on the computer screen. There is no need to panic in such a situation. There are special programs for removing protection from a flash drive. But first, let’s clarify a little the question of why such protection is installed at all and why it needs to be installed.
Write protection - why is it?
It is impossible to imagine the modern world without the Internet. Its benefits to society are undeniable. However, there was a fly in the ointment. The World Wide Web is teeming with a variety of viruses that penetrate literally any crevice. USB drives are no exception; the information on them must be protected. And in order to protect the flash drive from copying virus files, manufacturers install write protection on it. But this is not the only explanation. Your flash drive can react not only to viruses, but also be full, for example. Or it could be a glitch in the flash drive itself.
Now let’s move on directly to how to remove write protection from a flash drive. There are three main ways to remove protection: software, hardware, and using internal Windows tools.
Hardware method for removing write protection from a USB drive
This method is very simple. Take a good look at your flash drive or micro sd. There should be a small toggle switch on the side. Above it is an open lock or the inscription lock. That's what it is switch that disables write protection. To unlock the flash drive, move the toggle switch and you're done. The protection has been removed. Unfortunately, such a toggle switch is not available on all flash memory and micro sd models.
Removing write protection using programs
Removing protection using programs allows you to save all the information available there on the drive. Let's look at several programs.
-
HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool
Can work with almost any USB flash drive. Just download the program from the Internet and run the exe file. The program does not require installation. Then you insert your flash drive into the USB port and the program itself determines all its parameters. All you have to do is choose between file system types and click the “start” button. This program allows you to remove write protection from micro sd flash drives.
-
JetFlash Recovery Tool
This program only works with USB flash drives from certain companies. These are Jet Flash, A-DATA and Transcend. After going through several installation steps, you can start working with the program.
-
Apacer Repair Program
This software recognizes only Apacer flash drives.
If your flash drive is from this company, download the program and use it.
One of the simplest and most effective programs for eliminating this type of problem. It is downloaded as an archive, which will need to be unpacked first. In the unpacked archive, select the exe file and install the program on your computer. True, this program does not recognize all flash drives, but only running on Alcor MP controller. Pay attention to the name of the flash drive in the line. If it is black, everything is in order, you can start working. If the inscription is red, alas, nothing will happen.
When running all these programs, you need administrator rights. To get them, click once on the software shortcut. A context menu will appear. There, find “Run as administrator” and select it.
Before using the above programs, try some preliminary steps.
- The reason that your drive does not want to write information may be its virus infection. Scan the flash drive with an antivirus program. If viruses are found, remove them.
- If you have two usb ports, move the flash drive to another port. Sometimes this helps and all information is written perfectly from the second port.
- Try it to restart a computer. Sometimes the cause of problems with a USB drive can be system failures.
If all the described actions did not have any result, you should resort to the help of programs. But remember, all information recorded on your flash drive will be deleted.
Removing protection from a flash drive using internal computer resources
How to remove protection in regedit
To open the registry editor, in the Start menu, in the search bar, type regedit in Latin letters. When the regedit icon appears in the search field, right-click on it. In the menu that appears, select “Run as administrator.”
Then we find a folder called StorageDevicePolicies. It is located in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control.
If one does not exist, you will have to create it manually. To do this, right-click on the Control folder and select “New”, then “Partition”. Name the new section StorageDevicePolicies. Right-click on the newly created section. You need to select “New” and “DWORD Value (32 bits)”. Name the selected option WriteProtect. Right-click on WriteProtect and click on “Edit”. In the window that appears, enter 0 in the value line and press “Enter.”
After restarting your computer, the write protection issue will be resolved.
Removing protection using the Discpart utility
Go to the Start menu and type cmd in the search engine. Right-click and run as administrator. Recruiting teams discpart and list disk. After entering each command, press Enter. A list will appear in which you should determine the number of your USB drive. After selecting the desired disk with the select button, delete the attributes that allow read only “attributes disk clear readonly”.
The measure is radical, because after the flash drive is formatted, everything the data will be deleted from it. So think carefully before formatting your flash drive. Formatting a USB flash drive is very easy. Go to “My Computer” and look for the icon of your flash drive there. Click on the right mouse button and select “Format” in the menu that opens. In the window that opens, click “Start formatting.” The problem will be fixed, there will be no need to do anything else. You can format micro sd in the same way.
Removing write protection from a flash drive is not difficult at all. The main thing to remember is that this may delete the information you need.
Are you afraid that your information may be stolen from your work computer and taken away on a flash drive? Or, on the contrary, are you afraid of losing data stored on a flash drive because it can be easily deleted? How to protect files from being copied to removable media without prohibiting its use in the system? How can I protect what I copied from being deleted?
Write protection of a flash drive can be implemented in several ways, depending on the goals being pursued. Some of them prohibit writing to a removable disk using the system itself, which makes it impossible to write files to any flash drive on your computer, while others allow you to prohibit writing to a specific medium, regardless of which computer it is connected to. Let's look at them in more detail:
Prohibiting writing to removable media by editing the registry.
Small changes made to the registry will allow you to prohibit writing to any removable drives. In order to make the necessary settings, open the “Run” window using the Win/R key combination and launch the registry editor (to do this, enter the “regedit” command in the window and press the Ok or Enter button):
In the editor we are interested in the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE section,
in which we will sequentially open /SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/
In the Control subsection we need to find the StorageDevicePolicies folder (and if it doesn’t exist, create a new one) and in the WriteProtect parameter replace the value zero with one:
To do this, double-click to open the parameter and edit its value:
If we created StorageDevicePolicies ourselves, we need to create the WriteProtect parameter in it, for which we need to right-click to open the context menu, select “32-bit DWORD parameter” and assign the name WriteProtect to the new parameter, then change its value to one , in the manner indicated above.
After closing Registry Editor, restart your computer to apply the changes. Writing to removable disks is no longer available, nothing can be copied to a flash drive, and existing files on it cannot be deleted or renamed:
To disable write prohibition, you must return the WriteProtect parameter to zero.
Prohibiting writing to flash media by changing group policy
Another way to achieve similar results is to make changes to Local Group Policy. Open the editor using the familiar Win/R keys and entering the gpedit.msc command in the Run window:
Let's sequentially follow the path Computer Configuration / Administrative Templates / System / Access to removable storage devices:
Here we are interested in the “Removable drives: disable writing” parameter, which must be set to enabled:
This method is good because it does not require a system reboot to apply the settings - after clicking the “Apply” button, the prohibition of writing to disks is activated immediately.
Also, recording is immediately disabled and turned off; just set the “Removable drives: write prohibit” parameter to “Not set” or “Disable”.
Both methods are good for prohibiting writing on your computer, but they are not capable of protecting important data on a flash drive when used to transfer files to another computer. This requires a completely different approach:
Write-protection of a flash drive by setting access rights
To use this method, you need to format your flash drive using standard Windows tools into the NTFS file system:
All data will be destroyed, so if you have important documents on it, first copy them to your hard drive, and after formatting, return them to the flash drive.
In “Properties” we are interested in the “Security” tab, where we can make changes to the file system access rights:
Set the “Everyone” group to write prohibited, apply the changes:
Now, regardless of the computer to which your flash drive will be connected, no user will have rights to write (and, accordingly, to delete files). Moreover, you can restore rights only on the computer where the initial changes were made by returning the checkbox for the “Record” item to the “Allow” position.
If you wish, you can experiment with different user groups, for example by only allowing a group with administrative rights to write. However, please note that these settings will only be valid for administrators on the computer where the changes are made and not on any other.
How to remove such write protection if there is no access to the original computer, or if the operating system was reinstalled on this computer? In this case, only formatting the flash drive again will help you. Don’t be alarmed if you store important documents on it - copy them to a folder on your computer’s hard drive, and then feel free to format your storage medium. After formatting, the file system will return to its original state; to be sure, you can select the FAT system as the new file system.
Write protection of removable media using a built-in switch
Don’t forget that some manufacturers provide a switch that allows you to block recording on a flash drive. This applies mainly to memory cards and adapters for them, however, USB drives can also be equipped with it:
If your media has such a switch, just switch it - and until you return it to the reverse position, it will be impossible to write anything or accidentally delete files. The main thing is that you yourself do not forget that you have enabled write locking on the flash drive, otherwise you are guaranteed unpleasant emotions when you will not be able to submit a report to your boss due to the fact that you will not be able to copy files to the flash drive, which is now protected.
The era of floppy disks is long gone, but sometimes when trying to write to a flash drive, the user may encounter a situation known since the days of using floppy media - it is blocked and cannot be used.
We will look at how to solve this problem in detail in our article today.
So, you need to write some information to a flash drive, you insert it and receive a message like “The disk is write-protected, remove the protection or use another one.”
This problem can be solved quite quickly, and we will talk about this a little later, but now we should say a few words about the purpose of installing protection from downloading on .
Note! This operation is performed for only one purpose - which can spontaneously be copied to removable media without the user’s knowledge.
Methods for removing write protection from a flash drive
There are 2 key ways to remove protection from a flash drive: hardware and software.
The hardware solution is to install a lock switch, which is present in some drive models, as well as SD cards.
Most often, the toggle switch is located on the side edge of the drive.
Carefully inspect your existing drive and look for an open/closed lock icon or the word Lock on it.
Note! Removing the lock is very simple - just move the lock lever in the opposite direction. That's all. Insert the media into the appropriate slot and repeat the file writing operation again.
The software solution involves the interaction of a flash drive controller, which is responsible for the ability to record information.
You can remove write protection using this method using the command line of the Registry Editor or Local Group Policy.
Learn more about all of the above methods.
Removing protection using regedit
1. Click “Start” and enter - in the search field. Right-click (RMB) on the program and in the context menu go to the “Run as administrator” item.
2. Go to the StorageDevicePolicies section:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies
Important! Important! If there is no such thing, you will have to create it. To do this, click on the section Control - New - Section. We call it “StorageDevicePolicies” without quotes. If there is no such section, you need to create it.
Create (RMB in the right column of the registry) a DWORD parameter (32 bits) in the created branch. For convenience, let's call the element WriteProtect.
3. Make sure that the WriteProtect value is 0. Right-click on WriteProtect and select “Change”. If the value is “1” you need to change it to “0” and click “Ok”.
4. Close the registry editor, remove the media and restart the computer. Insert the flash drive. Now the flash drive works as usual, allowing you to write files.
Removing protection using Diskpart
If we were unable to unlock using regedit, let's try to do it using the Diskpart command interpreter, which allows you to manage the commands that the user enters into the command line when working with partitions and disks.
1. “Start”, enter the name - cmd - in the search field. Right-click in the program and select “Run as administrator” in the context menu.
2. Now you should enter the commands: diskpart and list disk, and after entering each of them, press the Enter key.
3. In the list above, determine what serial number in the name the flash drive has.
This can be done based on the specified size, in our case an 8 GB flash drive, presented in the table as “Disk 1” with a capacity of 7441 MB.
4. Select the disk with the “select” command, clear the attributes that allow only reading “attributes disk clear readonly”.
If, you should enter the following commands: “clean”, create a partition “create partition primary”, format it in NTFS “format fs = ntfs” or FAT “format fs = fat”.
Removing protection using the Local Group Policy Editor
1. Open it by pressing the Win + R key combination, after which you should enter the command gpedit.msc and press “OK” or Enter.
