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USB Write Protection Removal Guide

This document provides instructions to erase a write-protected USB drive by modifying the registry using Regedit.exe. It involves navigating to the Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies key, changing the WriteProtect value from 1 to 0, restarting, and the drive should no longer be write protected. An alternative method using Diskpart commands in Command Prompt to clear the readonly attribute and format the drive is also provided.

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Thamizhanban R
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266 views4 pages

USB Write Protection Removal Guide

This document provides instructions to erase a write-protected USB drive by modifying the registry using Regedit.exe. It involves navigating to the Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies key, changing the WriteProtect value from 1 to 0, restarting, and the drive should no longer be write protected. An alternative method using Diskpart commands in Command Prompt to clear the readonly attribute and format the drive is also provided.

Uploaded by

Thamizhanban R
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

How to erase a write-protected USB drive in the Registry using

[Link]
In any version of Windows from XP onwards, run [Link] (searching regedit will usually show the
program at the top of the list).

Navigate to the following key:

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\

CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

Double-click on the WriteProtect value in the right-hand pane of [Link]. Change the Value data
from 1 to 0 and click OK to save the change. Close Regedit and restart your computer. Connect your
USB drive again, and you should find it is no longer write protected. You can now format the drive as
normal by right-clicking on it in My Computer and choosing Format.
If you can’t find StorageDevicePolicies, you can try creating a key by right-clicking in the white space
in the Control folder and choosing New -> Key and carefully entering the name.

Now double-click on the new key (folder) and right-click once again and choose New -> DWORD.
Name it WriteProtect and set its value to 0. Click OK, exit Regedit and reboot your computer.

If this method doesn’t work, try the following:

Removing write-protection using Diskpart


With your USB drive plugged in, launch a command prompt. Do this by searching for [Link] in the
Start menu (or Start screen in Windows 8). In Windows XP, click Start then Run, and type [Link] in
the box.

NOTE: you may need to run [Link] with administrator privileges if you see an “access is denied”
message.
To do that, right-click on the shortcut and choose Run as administrator. In Windows 8, simply choose
Command prompt (admin).

Now, type the following, pressing Enter after each command:

diskpart

list disk

select disk x (where x is the number of your USB flash drive – use the capacity to work out which one
it is)

attributes disk clear readonly

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clean

create partition primary

format fs=fat32 (you can swap fat32 for ntfs if you only need to use the drive with Windows
computers)

exit

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