USB flash drive prompts with "Write Protected" message.

TO: k4077c

  Thank you for your response. I must have missed tiking the "solved" icon for this thread(actually I'm still trying to find it). I attempted your suggestion and it did not work for this particular pendrive. Don't know the reasons... there were many responses depicting the steps you mentioned, some with just a bit of variation, and they all failed. Somehow this drive got "write protect" written to it (I assure you I never implemented it) and whatever process that was, it corrupted the drive to where it made the "protection" permanent. The good folks at LEXAR replaced the drive. I asked them for an explanation and what to do to "fix" it, but they did not reply. I'm still at a loss as to how it got the write protection installed and why the many "fixes" failed. I do not have a 'fix", but the problem has been solved by receiving a replacement.

Stay Sharp:

Rick

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.

@VISHAL JANGRA

I've tried your solution and it worked like a charm in Windows 10! 

The only thing I would add to your original post is that when you create a new DWord string in the new Key, don't worry about naming it because its the only value in that key and all you need is the Value (in this case 1).  Your fix was spot on but I almost skipped it because it seemed odd without the naming for the DWord string!  Thanks for the help!

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.

If this post helps to resolve your issue, please click the "Mark as Answer" or "Helpful" button at the top of this message. By marking a post as Answered, or Helpful you help others find the answer faster.

Hi Shekhar S, I tried your solution but it doesn't work for me.  Using Windows 10.  The problem disappears when I place the card in a USB reader and connect through a USB port but no matter the card, the problem occurs when I place a card in to my PC's card reader (i.e., Generic - SD/MMC).  Any assistance appreciated.