The disk is write protected

We all use removable disks in Windows. You’ve got your trusty USB flash drive plugged into your computer, and you go to copy some files to it you may see this didn’t copy your files and showing an error that says The disk is write-protected. Remove the write-protection or use another disk. This is one of the most common errors that appear while copying files to a USB flash device is “Disk is write protected” error.

Whenever your PC or computer is unable to write data into your USB Flash Drive, then this error will be triggered on the display screen of your system. Well sometimes you may come across such errors with these removable disks, that may make you believe that the disk has malfunctioned and can’t be used at all.

You don’t have to worry about this issue anymore as you are landed in the right place. Here we are going to present you simple solutions to fix or resolve The disk is write protected error on your USB flash device.

Reason Behind write protected error

  • Your USB flash drive may have become write protected due to some software related issue.
  • It might under gone some accidental changes while using the device.
  • Your USB device’s protection policies might get disturbed due to some virus attack.
  • USB might be improperly plugged out while in use.

The disk is write protected

If you are also suffering from The disk is write-protected error while copy something to your Removable disk Here we have multiple solutions for this. Try all of them one by and get fixed your problem.

Check your User Account Settings

First, check your Account setting for the USB to have proper rights to Write on this.

Right click on the USB flash drives Select properties of USB flash drive.

A window appears that shows all the properties of your USB (Say Removable Disk).

Now, just click on the Security tab.

In the permissions list, check whether the Write feature has a “Tick” mark next to it or not and then click OK.

If not then select the user account and click on Edit

Now select Add – Then type your user name – click OK. When user account added Select the user and Assign Full permission As Shown Bellow image.

That’s All Now Once Remove the USB Drive and Re-insert and try to copy some data on it. Check worked. Still getting the same problem follows next step.

Disable Write Protection Via Windows Registry

Write protection is sometimes enabled in the Windows registry and it is very difficult to write on external storage devices. If you disable this feature it can help you to restore your read and write privileges on USB flash disk and other external storage devices.  

  • Open Windows Registry editor by press win + R type regedit and click on ok.
  • This will open new window Registry Editor in which you need to navigate through the following Registry KEY.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

Here right click Control key and select New -> Key. Name the new sub-key so created as StorageDevicePolicies.

Create new DWORD key

  • Click on new Created key StorageDevicePolicies and come to the middle pane.
  • Right click and select New -> DWORD Value.
  • Name the newly created DWORD as WriteProtect. change the Value from 1 to 0 and Click OK.

Change write protect value

  • Remove your USB flash drive then insert it again or restart your PC.
  • This solution will fix write protected flash drive.

Alter Disk Attributes

We can change the Disk attributes, Ex: read and write attributes of a USB flash drive can be altered from the windows command prompt with the help of a simple command. Follow the below steps that help you to change the disk attributes of a USB flash drive.

Open administrative Command Prompt. on start type cmd and right click on it select Run As Admin

Now Type DISKPART and press Enter.

then type LIST VOLUME and press enter.

Now Type the Removable disk Volume number you want to remove the write protection from. In my case is was Volume 4.  As Shown image My Removable Disk Volume 4 is D Removable Drive.

Now Type SELECT VOLUME 4, (Select your Removable disk Volume number)  press enter. Next use command  ATTRIBUTES DISK CLEAR READONLY and then press Enter.

Disk part command

Now, you will see a prompt that Disk Attributes cleared successfully. Then type EXIT and then press Enter to close disk part and command prompt.

You may now close Command Prompt and re-plug the USB drive and check if the issue is resolved. If the disk is still showing the same error, there could be a possibility that the chip-set of this drive is broken.

Check The USB Drive For Viruses

Ensure your USB Drive is Virus Protection Free. Every time you plug a USB drive into your computer, you should be automatically scanning it for viruses. Especially if you have used it on computers that you don’t own, or public computers.

Viruses often act in a manner that will fill your USB drive with nonsense files and this can make your USB drive respond with the Write Protected error. So, make sure that your flash drive is uninfected by scanning it.

Format the Flash Drive using Disk management

If you are still unable to fix the error, then you need to format your USB flash disk. Just follow the below steps and format your drive.

Right click on computer and select manage this will open the computer management window. Now under the Storage, select Disk Management.

This will display all the memory devices connected to your computer from which you need to select your USB device and right click on it. From the right click options select Format As shown image.

Now, Select the File System of your choice. Allocation Unit Size will be Default. Lastly, click on OK. Now, your USB is completely formatted.

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Robeg
I am Robeg founder of this blog. My qualification. completed Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP). With a strong background in computer applications love write articles on Microsoft Windows (11, 10, etc.) Cybersecurity, WordPress and more.