USB flash drive prompts with "Write Protected" message.

Anonymous
2010-06-25T00:56:28+00:00

I have recently purchased a 32gb usb flash drive. I have been using it ok until 3 days ago. I now get a message saying "Write Protected". There is no write protection switch on the device. How do i remove the write protection.

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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Anonymous
2010-06-25T21:03:53+00:00

Hi,

You can remove write protection from your usb flash drive using the below method:

a. Open start menu, in the search bar type regedit and press enter. This wil open the registry editor.

b. Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

Note:

If the registry key StorageDevicePolicies does not exist, you will need to create it manually.

c. Highlight StorageDevicePolicies, and then create a New DWORD (32-bit) Value named as WriteProtect.

d. Double click the key WriteProtect in the right window and set the value to 0 in the Value

Data Box and press OK button

e. Restart your computer and try copying files into your USB drives.

Important Note:

Sometimes this problem is caused by two Windows registry entries that have become corrupted. To fix the problem, you have to use Registry Editor to delete the corrupted registry entries.

However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs.

For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, follow the steps as in the KB Article:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756/

Hope this helps.

Thanks and Regards:

Shekhar S - Microsoft Support. Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-10-16T12:13:27+00:00

    ...

    The fixes for corrupted System Policies work on some USBs.  However, there are a lot of cases where there are no known means to make the USB drive 'readable'.

    ...

    None of them worked.  I've given up on finding a solution and follow the thread just out of interest.

    ...

    I agree. My belief is that some USBs have been built without the ability to remove write-protection once it is turned on, much like a CD-R.

    I've just learned to accept that flash sticks may become locked, and don't waste a ton of money on them.

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  2. Anonymous
    2015-02-06T17:38:15+00:00

    if you still tried everything and didn't get your USB unwrite-protected try using this tool :

    http://www.mediafire.com/download/a491cg5mc1o10c4/simpleprotector.exe

    it's easy and basic and doesn't require installation, just choose the operation needed from the menu , enter the associated number [in this case number "2" to disable WriteProtect], hit enter , a window should pop up saying "Operation Succeeded"

    hope this helps :)

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  3. Anonymous
    2015-03-05T16:37:42+00:00

    My friend has the same problem with a Patriot 64 Gb USB drive.

    Nothing works on Windows XP, 7 or 8.

    Finally I tried Linux Ubuntu 14.04 with its disk utility.

    It works!   All files can be deleted and I formatted the whole drive.

    After that the drive works in XP or 7 but does not work in Windows 8.

    Give it a try since Linux is free.

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  4. Anonymous
    2015-09-05T04:45:02+00:00

    Well Shekhar, I've tried everything posted on the web, and even a few things that are not, including running Windows Xp SP3 through a Virtual Machine and trying to remove the write protection, and even formatting it using Xp. I've done the registry entry thing in Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit as well as adding it to the Virtual Xp. No luck there. Tried the command prompt thing in 7 and Xp, no luck. Tried several different formatting tools, no luck. Even tried formatting it using Active 7.1 boot disk, no luck.

    So, I've contacted the manufacturer's tech support (Centon DataStickPro 32GB) and handed the problem to them to see if they had any ideas. no response from them as of today, and quite frankly I don't expect any help from them either. The best posting (and the most honest I believe) said that you might as well copy ( which you CAN do on a write protected device ) all the information to your computers hard drive, throw the damn flash drive into the trash, buy a new one, and copy the information that you copied from the original drive to the new drive. So there you have it, problem solved. Unless, that is, you want to spend the next two days looking for a solution that doesn't exist!

                                                                                          Good luck Bro!!

    Amen Raldrich64.  Sort of along the same lines I tried with no luck!  128 GB Patriot USB and none of the cures on Internet seem to work.  It is still write protected and won't format or delete files.  Ain't cheap to throw away but looks like that is the only solution. 

    Thanks for your comments.

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