Program for flash drive to unlock. How to remove write protection from a flash drive or disk

Good day.

Recently, several users have contacted me with the same type of problem - when copying information to a flash drive, an error occurred with something like the following: “ The disc is write protected. Remove protection or use another drive«.

This can happen for various reasons and there is no single solution. In this article I will give the main reasons why this error appears and their solution. In most cases, the recommendations from the article will return your drive to normal operation. Let's get started...

1) Mechanical write protection on the flash drive is enabled

The most common reason why a security-related error appears is the switch on the flash drive itself (Lock). Previously, there was something similar on floppy disks: you wrote down something you needed, switched it to read-only mode - and you don’t worry about forgetting and accidentally erasing the data. Such switches are usually found on MicroSD flash drives.

In Fig. 1 shows such a flash drive, if the switch is set to Lock mode, then you can only copy files from the flash drive, it will be impossible to write or format it!

Rice. 1. MicroSD with write protection.

By the way, sometimes you can also find such a switch on some USB flash drives (see Fig. 2). It is worth noting that it is extremely rare and only at little-known Chinese companies.

Fig.2. RiData flash drive with write protection.

In general, by default, Windows does not prohibit copying and writing information to flash drives. But in the event of virus activity (and indeed any malware), or, for example, when using and installing various assemblies from different authors, it is possible that some settings in the registry have been changed.

Therefore, the advice is simple:

1. first check your PC (laptop) for viruses ();
2. check further registry settings And local access policies(more on this later in the article).

1. Checking registry settings

How to enter the registry:

• press the WIN+R button combination;
• then in the Run window that appears, enter regedit;
• press Enter (see Fig. 3.).

By the way, in Windows 7 you can open the Registry Editor through the START menu.

Note. Chapter Control you will have, but the section StorageDevicePolicies- it may not exist... If it doesn’t exist, you need to create it, to do this, just right-click on the section Control and select a section from the drop-down menu, then give it a name - StorageDevicePolicies. Working with sections resembles the most common work with folders in Explorer (see Fig. 4).

Further in the section StorageDevicePolicies create a parameter DWORD 32 bits: To do this, just click on the section StorageDevicePolicies right-click and select the appropriate item from the drop-down menu.

By the way, such a 32-bit DWORD parameter can already be created in this section (if you had one, of course).

Rice. 5. Registry - creating a DWORD 32 parameter (clickable).

Now open this parameter and set it to 0 (as in Figure 6). If you have the parameter DWORD 32 bits has already been created previously, change its value to 0 . Next, close the editor and restart your computer.

Rice. 6. Set the parameter

After restarting the computer, if the reason was in the registry, you can easily write the necessary files to the flash drive.

2. Local access policies

Also, local access policies may limit the writing of information to connected drives (including flash drives). To open local access policy editor- just press the buttons Win+R and in the execute line enter gpedit.msc , then the Enter key (see Fig. 7).

Then, on the right, pay attention to the parameter “ Removable drives: disable writing". Open this setting and disable it (or set it to Not Configured).

Actually, after the specified parameters, restart your computer and try to write files to the USB flash drive.

3) Low-level formatting of a flash drive/disk

In some cases, for example, with certain types of viruses, there is nothing left to do but format the drive in order to completely get rid of the malware. Low-level formatting will destroy absolutely ALL DATA on the flash drive (you will no longer be able to recover it using various utilities), and at the same time, it helps to bring back to life a flash drive (or hard drive), which many have already given up on...

What utilities can be used.

In general, there are more than enough utilities for low-level formatting (in addition, on the website of the flash drive manufacturer you can also find 1-2 utilities for “reanimating” the device). Nevertheless, through experience, I came to the conclusion that it is better to use one of the following 2 utilities:

1. HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. A simple, installation-free utility for formatting USB-Flash drives (the following file systems are supported: NTFS, FAT, FAT32). Works with devices via USB 2.0 port. Developer: http://www.hp.com/
2. HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool. An excellent utility with unique algorithms that allows you to easily and quickly format (including problematic drives that other utilities and Windows cannot see) HDDs and Flash cards. The free version has a speed limit of 50 MB/s (not critical for flash drives). I will show my example below in this utility. Official website: http://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

Example of low-level formatting (in HDD LLF Low Level Format Tool)

1. First, copy ALL the NECESSARY files from the flash drive to your computer’s hard drive ( that is, you make a backup copy. After formatting, you will no longer be able to recover anything from this flash drive!).

3. You should see a list of all connected disks and flash drives. Find yours in the list (focus on the device model and its capacity).

Rice. 9. Selecting a flash drive

4. Then open the LOW-LEVE FORMAT tab and click the Format This Device button. The program will ask you again and warn you about deleting everything on the flash drive - just answer in the affirmative.

Rice. 10. Start formatting

5. Next, wait while the formatting is done. The time will depend on the state of the formatted media and the version of the program (paid ones work faster). When the operation is completed, the green progress bar will turn yellow. Now you can close the utility and begin high-level formatting.

Rice. 11. Formatting complete

6. The easiest way is to simply go to “ This computer" (or " My computer"), select the connected flash drive in the list of devices and right-click on it: select the formatting function in the drop-down list. Next, give the flash drive a name and specify the file system (for example, NTFS, since it supports files larger than 4 GB. See Fig. 12).

Rice. 12. My computer / formatting a flash drive

That's all. After this procedure, your flash drive (in most cases, ~97%) will start working as expected ( The exception is cases when software methods will not help the flash drive...).

Why does this error occur, what can I do to prevent it from happening again?

And finally, I’ll give you a few reasons why an error related to write protection appears (using the tips listed below will significantly increase the life of your flash drive).

1. Firstly, when disconnecting a flash drive, always use safe shutdown: right-click in the tray next to the clock on the icon of the connected flash drive and select disable from the menu. According to my personal observations, many users never do this. At the same time, such shutdowns can damage the file system (for example);
2. Secondly, install an antivirus on the computer on which you are working with a flash drive. Of course, I understand that it is impossible to insert a flash drive into a PC with an antivirus everywhere and everywhere - but after receiving it from a friend where they copied files to it (from an educational institution, etc.), when you connect the flash drive to your PC - just check it ;
3. Try not to drop or throw the flash drive. Many people, for example, attach a flash drive to their keys like a keychain. There is nothing special about this - but often the keys are thrown on the table (bedside table) upon arriving home (the keys will do nothing, but the flash drive flies and hits them);

I’ll take my leave for now, if you have anything to add, I’d be grateful. Good luck and less mistakes!

Problems with flash drives have been known since their inception, including the impossibility of formatting, blocking of writing to the drive, and the appearance of incomprehensible errors. Today we will look at the case when the flash drive is write-protected; by the way, this solution can later help with.

Let’s say you wanted to put something on a flash drive, that is, write down information, when you try to do this, a message like this may appear: “The disk is write protected, remove the protection or use another disk”, or simply that the disk is write-protected. This problem can be solved in several ways, which is what we will do now.

The flash drive is write protected, how to remove the protection - options?

In general, there are two ways to remove protection, software and hardware. The hardware method cannot be used on all drives, but only on those with a special switch. For example, it is on SD card readers on the side, there will be an inscription "Lock". As you can see, everything is simple, you just need to switch the lever.

Software method. I think you are clear too. To unlock the flash drive, we will use standard Windows tools, for example, the command line, or third-party programs.

How to remove write protection from a flash drive using the registry?

Let's move on to the main process. The first option is to use . To enter it we open a window "Run" by pressing keys Win+R and enter the command there regedit. Another option is to enter “regedit” in the search and open the registry as administrator in the results.

Now we need to go to the StorageDevicePolicies section. It is located along the path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

By the way, I have already talked about how to quickly go to this or that branch.

If you do not find this section there, then create it. To do this, click on the previous section "Control" and choose "Create", Then "Chapter" and name it StorageDevicePolicies.

Now, in this section we must create a parameter DWORD (32 bits), we do exactly the same. Name this parameter WriteProtect.

Click on the created parameter twice and make sure that its value is 0; if not, change it to zero and save.

After this, you need to exit the registry, remove the flash drive and restart the computer. When the system boots, insert the flash drive again. Now you can write any information to the flash drive, since the protection is disabled.

If this option does not work, move on to the next one.

Unprotect a flash drive using the command line

Another software option to solve the problem is to use the diskpart command on the command line.

Open the command prompt as an administrator; to do this in Windows 10, you can right-click on and select the appropriate item, or enter cmd in the search and open as administrator.

The next step is to enter the command on the command line diskpart and then enter list disk .

Now you need to understand what number the flash drive has. The easiest way to understand this is by volume.

Once you have figured out which number belongs to the desired flash drive, you need to enter the command on the command line select disk"flash drive number » , that is, if the flash drive had number 1, then the command would look like this: select disk 1.

Thus, we have selected the desired disk, then we clear the attributes by entering the command attributes disk clear readonly .

If you have a task to format the drive, then first enter these commands:

• clean– cleaning
• create partition primary– create a section
• format fs = ntfs– format to NTFS format
• If you format in FAT format, the command will be like this: format fs = fat

The reading attribute is described in the article -. If you are interested in how to use it for disks and partitions, then read on.

Removing protection using the Local Group Policy Editor

I’ll say right away that this utility is only available in professional versions of Windows, for example, Windows 10 Pro or Windows 8 Pro. You won't see this in home editions.

To enter the Group Policy Editor you need to press the combination Win+R and in the window that opens enter the command gpedit.msc.

In the editor window we must go to the following section: Computer configuration - Administrative Templates - System - Access to removable storage devices. We find there the parameter “Removable drives: Prohibit recording”; if it is in the “Enabled” state, then disable it.

To do this, you need to double-click on this parameter, a window will open where we put the checkbox in position "Disable", and then press "OK".

That's all. Of course, I do not guarantee that these methods can help, if this happens, I can recommend that you go to the official website of the manufacturer of your flash drive and look for utilities there for working with drives. And the very last point - any flash drive has a write limit, that is, perhaps the number of overwrites has exceeded the limit, then all that remains is to purchase a new flash drive.

One of the most reliable means of storing personal information is flash media. For many, such a device becomes the first assistant in their work; with its help, you can easily carry the necessary information just in your pocket. When it comes to the security of storing various programs and files, special software is often used. It is designed to protect the media from copying, deleting or moving materials, as well as from reading, without entering a special code.

But even if you have not used such programs, and when you run the command to transfer its contents, the error appears: “The disk is write-protected,” do not panic, determine the reason and use the suggested methods. Removing protection from a flash drive is not a difficult task at all, and most importantly, it can be solved and is more economical than buying a new one.

Causes

A flash drive can be blocked for many reasons. The most common ones are listed here:

• Incorrect Windows settings, for example, a software ban installed in the operating system;
• Failure of the media, often poorly produced “flash drives” - Chinese counterfeits of world leaders;
• The physical switch is in the wrong position;
• The host is infected with a virus;
• Malfunction of computer USB ports;
• Lack of a driver responsible for correct device recognition;
• Incorrect use. For example, you cannot remove the media until the process is completed: writing, downloading, renaming, moving or reading;

These are not all the reasons that cause the consequences of the write protection of the media being triggered. But if you still encounter a similar error, this does not mean that you need to change the flash drive.

Proven methods for removing protection from a drive

On the Internet, a lot of recommendations are described for getting rid of such a problem, both hardware and software, and most importantly, the authors of such posts write that his method is “the best.”

We present to your attention the “TOP 7 effective ways” on how to remove write protection from a flash drive, all of them have been tested and confirmed by a large number of users.

Hardware method using Windows command line
First you need to start the line, we do this by simultaneously pressing two keys on the keyboard: Windows + R. The “Run” window will open and enter the command “ cmd"and press the OK button;

The system response is to open the command line;

Required to enter " Diskpart»;

and press Enter. A new window will open - disk management program;

To continue, enter " list disk", confirm the action by pressing the Enter button;

In the window that opens, a list will appear on which you need to determine the number of the required media, focusing on the amount of memory, in our case it is Disk 5 - an 8Gb flash drive. Select a disk using the command: select disk )(, where -)(, this is the disk number, in our case 5;

After it has written to you: “Disk selected )(”, enter the following command, which will remove the block from all protected files that had a “read-only” error when opened. Command: attributes disk clear readonly(can be copied);

When “Disk attributes have been successfully cleared” is displayed, you can exit the program by entering the “Exit” command.

After closing the utility, check the media for functionality. Once you are confident in the operation of the method, you can continue to use the device without extra costs.

Virus scanning
One of the most relevant ways to solve this problem is also to scan the media for virus infection. To do this, you will need to go to “My Computer” and right-click on the name assigned to the device by the operating system, for example, “Disk Z”.

Then select “Check for viruses” in the menu. After a few minutes, the scanning result window will appear on the screen. This method can be applied to any antivirus software installed on your PC.

The flash drive can be write-protected by unauthorized installation of virus software. A clearly demonstrated method will help solve this problem, and will also protect your computer from automatic installation of unnecessary gadgets.

Hardware button on the carrier. Mechanical protection
Some models of portable USB drives have built-in protection that is turned on/off using an installed button. Be sure to pay attention to this; to allow recording and moving, the button must point to the “open lock.”

Formatting
Often, to eliminate such an error, utilities created for formatting are used. Remember, using this method will completely delete all files from the media.

Applying Windows Group Policy
It is possible to restrict rights by local group policy; the elimination of such infringement of rights should be carried out by following the algorithm:
Press Windows + R at the same time and enter the command gpedit.msc, click OK;

In the window that appears, go through the tabs sequentially:

1. Computer configuration;
2. Administrative Templates;
3. System;
4. Access to removable storage devices.

By clicking twice, an option window will open;

Check “Disable” → “Apply” → and confirm by clicking “Ok”.

By completing such a simple process, you can easily remove the interference in the infringement of the rights to use the media and continue working.

Programs to fix errors

If the above hardware fix methods did not give the desired result, you should try using software.

Soft disks are designed for expensive storage media; for less valuable storage devices there are also a lot of programs, for example:

JetFlash Recovery Tool- a free program in the public domain, intended for media from A-Data and Transcend. Its main functionality includes the ability to eliminate writing and reading errors, as well as unlocking. After downloading the utility from its creator’s resource, run it using the file of the same name, .exe format. After waiting for installation, click the JFRecoveryTool.exe shortcut. When the working window opens, insert the USB flash drive into the USB input and click “Start”. After the process is completed, check the drive to see if the error has been resolved.

Apacer Repair- the utility is created individually for media produced by Apacer Technology Inc, and is also applicable for third-party drives. The functionality can eliminate recording problems. It is recommended to download the program from the official resource, where it is posted and is available for download completely free of charge. After completing the download process and connecting the USB drive, run the utility. First of all, she will do the formatting, for which there will be a warning. By clicking “Format”, the successfully completed process will allow you to forget about the recently disturbing problem.

Knowing the brand name of your carrier, it will not be difficult for you to select the required program; there are tons of them on the Internet. It is to solve such problems that manufacturers create them and post them on Internet resources; it is worth noting that they are all freely available.

It is not always possible to determine the true cause of a malfunction and remove write protection. But having used the above methods, based on the result you will understand exactly what to do next: safely use a working device, or buying a new one will become an inevitable event.

We do not guarantee the safety of information!

How to remove write protection from a flash drive - instructions! The “disk is write-protected” or “flash drive is write-protected” error usually happens at the most inopportune moment. If you started reading this article, then you turned out to be one of those “lucky” people who at one point decided to put something on your flash drive, but in the end received a message from the system that you cannot write data to the disk and now this very protection needs to be removed. A person who has encountered something like this for the first time reasonably appears completely bewildered. Let's try to find out the reasons why we can't write files to a flash drive and figure out how to fix this problem.

Content:

Causes of the error “The disk is write-protected. Remove protection or use another disk."

It is quite logical that such a problem arises if the operating system queries the disk, but does not receive write rights. In this case, it is not possible to write files, although at the same time data can be read without any problems. The reasons for this behavior vary, but clearly fall into two groups:

1. Software glitch.
2. Hardware failure.

It is important to understand that both types of problems can happen both on the flash drive and on your computer.

Types of write protection

By analogy with the reasons for the “media is write-protected” error, write protection methods can also be divided. A classic example of hardware protection would be the presence of a special switch (on the body of a flash drive) that turns on and off the ability to write to a flash drive.

Software protection consists of various types of software systems designed to prevent unauthorized use of the drive.

When deciding how to remove the protection if “The disk is write protected”, first of all check if there is a special small switch on the case. It is always present on SD cards, and is somewhat less common on regular USB drives. Accidental switching is not uncommon when a flash drive is carried in a pocket.

Also, be sure to check the functionality of the flash drive in other USB ports, or even better, on another computer. If you are the owner of a desktop computer with a system unit, it is preferable to check the flash drive by connecting to the ports on the back wall of the system unit. The problem may lie in poor contact, poor-quality wires, or failure of the USB controller.

Software removal of write protection

After making sure that there is no mechanical protection problem, we proceed to checking the software.
By default, the flash drive is formatted using the FAT32 file system. A small number of users are aware of the limitation in this file system to the maximum file size of 4Gb. This results in a twofold situation: formally there is permission to write, but a message about the impossibility of doing so appears. If you need to transfer large files, format the drive using NTFS - a system where there are no such restrictions. To do this, open “My Computer,” right-click on your removable drive and select “Format.” In the window that appears, in the “File system” line, select NTFS, click “Start”.

Important! It is always better to use “safe removal” before removing the flash drive from the connector. Due to some features regarding flash drives formatted in NTFS, this should be a mandatory rule.

The blocking can be set in the Windows registry. The Windows key combination + R will open the Run window, type regedit and click OK.

In the editor window, go to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies section, where you will see the WriteProtect parameter on the right. Double-click on the parameter to bring up a dialog for changing the parameter, set the value to 0. The StorageDevicePolicies section may be missing and you will have to create it. To create, right-click the previous Control section, select “New > Section”, the name should be StorageDevicePolicies. In the empty area on the right side of the window of the newly created section, right-click again, select “New > DWORD Value” in the menu, select bitness 64 or 32, depending on the bitness of your system. Name the parameter WriteProtect and set the value to 0 as described above. Be sure to reboot and check the result.

Make sure that recording to removable devices is not prohibited by group policy. Similarly to launching the Registry Editor, execute gpedit.msc, which will bring up the “Local Group Policy Editor”. Follow the branches “Computer Configuration - Administrative Templates - System - Access to Removable Storage Devices”. On the right, check the “Removable drives: Deny writing” option. It should be disabled or not set. If the option is enabled, double-click on it, select Disable, and apply the selection. Don't forget to reboot before checking.

Check the system with a good antivirus with the latest databases. There are a number of malicious programs that block the ability to work normally with connected portable storage devices.

A significant number of Windows users prefer the Total Commander file manager, which offers extensive features and ease of use. It is important to understand that Total Commander is essentially just a convenient add-on for Windows, so everything described in the article applies to it. However, there are nuances. Try copying your files in Windows Explorer, if there are no problems with copying in Explorer, open “Configuration > Settings: File Operations” and select “Automatically select copy method”. The authors of some builds of this manager set settings that cause such failures.

Remove write protection in the command line (cmd)

How to remove protection from a write-protected flash drive using the command line. The method is a little more complicated. Find the Command Prompt application in the Start menu and run it with administrator rights. Next, enter the following commands one by one, confirming each entry by pressing Enter.

Attention! All contents of the flash drive will be deleted permanently!

1. Diskpart– launches the disk management utility;
2. list disk– will display all disks connected to the system, you need to determine which of them is your flash drive, for which you can use the size of the disk;
3. select disk X– targets the program to a disk; instead of X, specify the number of the desired disk;
4. detail disk– will show detailed information about the selected disk to ensure that the choice is correct;
5. attributes disk clear readonly– resets the read-only attribute;
6. clean– all volumes and partitions on the disk will be deleted;
7. create partition primary– re-creates the main partition;
8. formatfs=fat32– formats the partition using the FAT32 file system (you can select the NTFS file system with the commandfs=ntfs);
9. exit– terminates the program.

Programs for removing write protection

Flash drive manufacturers take care of solving various types of problems that arise with their products, releasing proprietary utilities for restoring problematic devices. Do not forget that you must run any of these utilities with administrator rights. These useful programs can be freely downloaded from the respective manufacturers' websites. Transcend calls it , Silicon Power calls it , Adata calls it , Kingston calls it . Their use is quite simple and does not cause difficulties even for beginners.

The programs listed below are designed for advanced users and you should read the documentation before using them. Independent developers release their own universal programs that are not tied to any vendor, but have similar functionality.

Popular representatives:,AlcorMP.

The latter only works with drives on the controller of the same name, but all have the same task - to help restore the problematic device. When faced with finding a solution to how to remove protection from a flash drive, as a last resort, you should try to reflash it. Flash Drive Information Extractor will tell you complete information about the type of controller, the memory used and even the production date.

Kingston Format Utility is a utility for improving the performance of a flash drive and eliminating all common problems with it...

MiniTool Power Data Recovery - will recover flash drives quickly and easily

MiniTool Power Data Recovery is a specialized program for recovering external storage media, such as flash cards,…

When you try to add data to a flash drive, your computer may display the error message “The disk is write-protected.” Therefore, it is important for anyone to know how to remove write protection from a flash drive. It is difficult for the user to check the cause of the phenomenon, but often this acts as a precaution against downloading viruses from laptops, computers, and other devices to the drive. It is difficult to clear a flash drive of them; it is much easier to protect it and then remove the recording.

How to unlock a write-protected flash drive

Unlocking is accomplished via a lock switch in some flash or removable SD cards. If you find a switch, then the method to remove write protection from a USB flash drive is to switch the lock lever in the desired direction of the open lock image. After this, reinsert the media into the PC port, access to it will become free, and you will be able to record information. To return to the “Flash drive is write protected” state, switch the lever to the “Protect” position. The same applies to following the point on how to remove protection from a memory card.

Launch Windows Registry Editor

The system registry editor is a way to return the flash card to working condition using simple steps. Follow these simple steps:

1. First, you need to click on the “Start” icon and type “Regedit” into the search box, right-click on the dropped file, and from the resulting menu click on the “Run Administrator” button.
2. Select the “StorageDevicePolicies” subsection through the command channel “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies”. The absence of this section on your PC requires you to add it. To do this, right-click on the “Control” subsection, click “New”, select “Section”. Next, you can give the subkey the name “StorageDevicePolicies”, after removing the quotes. While on this registry branch, create a "DWORD (32-bit)" element called "WriteProtect".
3. Make sure that the renamed WriteProtect element is equal to 0. To verify this, click on the element, select “Change”, correct the one to zero, confirming the selection with OK. The change may not be necessary if the value is already zero.
4. Close the program, remove the media, restart the PC. A reboot will return the inserted card to its original working state.

Recovery via command line

The command line is an alternative method for solving the question of how to remove protection from a flash drive. The process includes the following points:

1. Click “Start”, enter “cmd” in the search box, right-click on the program that appears, find “Run as administrator” and click on the option.
2. Enter the command “diskpart”, click “enter”, then enter “list disk”, click “enter” again.
3. Determine the disk number. If it is the only one, then it will be “Disk 1”. If you have several devices, knowing the capacity or memory of the USB drive will help determine the number.
4. After selecting the protected disk that you want to fix by typing “select”, you need to clear the read-only attributes by typing “attributes disk clear readonly”. Additional formatting can be done if desired. To do this, use the “clean” command, create a “create partition primary” subsection, and format the flash drive to the desired format. Done – the disk is working again.

How to remove protection from a transcend flash drive

Holders of Transcend flash cards can resort to using a utility created exclusively for the brand. The file is called “JetFlashRecovery” and can be downloaded from the company’s official website. The utility is completely free to access, eliminates write protection problems and other difficulties that arise. To make it easier to find the utility, use the file name.

In addition to this utility, the already described command line or registry editor methods are suitable for the Transcend brand. The lock removal tool by switching the locking lever will be an alternative method of removing write protection from such a flash drive. You can try all the methods, because at least one of them should work and help eliminate this painful problem.

Video: what to do if the flash drive is write-protected