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How to Format a Write-Proof USB

January 24, 2024 by admin Category: How To

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If the USB is write-protected, you probably won’t be able to modify files or format the drive. There are several ways you can remove write protection on your USB. However, the drive can also be damaged or locked with security software and we can’t overwrite it. This wikiHow teaches you how to remove write protection from a USB drive using a Windows or macOS computer.

Table of Contents

  • Steps
    • Using Diskpart (Windows)
    • Using Registry Editor (Windows)
    • Using Disk Utility (Mac OS X)
  • Advice
  • Warning

Steps

Using Diskpart (Windows)

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 11

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 11

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Slide the switch on the USB. If the USB has an external physical write-protect switch, it may be in the locked position. Try sliding the switch to disable write protection before continuing with this method.

  • In some cases, the USB may be locked with software that does not allow changes to its contents. At that time, it is likely that you will not be able to remove write protection on the USB. [1] X Research Source
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 12

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 12

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Plug the flash drive into the USB port on the machine. You can use any empty USB slot on your PC.
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 3

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Right click on the Start menu Windows Start

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usually located in the lower left corner of the screen. A menu will appear.

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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 4

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Click Run at the bottom of the menu that pops up when you right-click the Start button. The Run program will open in a new window.
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 5

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Type diskpart in Run and press ↵ Enter . Diskpart will open in Command Prompt.
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 16

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Type list disk and press ↵ Enter . A list of drives (including USB) will appear. Each drive is labeled “Disk (number)”, and each number is uniquely representative of that drive.

  • You should be able to recognize the USB by looking at the disk space listed under “Size”. For example, if the USB has a capacity of 32 GB, “32 GB” or an approximation will show up under “Size” on the Command Prompt.
READ More:   How to Turn Off McAfee
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 17

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Type select disk # and press ↵ Enter . Where # is the number representing the flash drive (e.g. “select disk 3”). The USB will be selected in Diskpart.
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 18

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Type attributes disk clear readonly and press ↵ Enter . The write-protected state will be removed from the drive.
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 19

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Type clean and press ↵ Enter . The data will be erased from the drive. Once done, you should be able to set it up to use.
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 20

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Type create partition primary and press ↵ Enter to create a partition on the flash drive.
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 21

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 21

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Type format fs=fat32 or format fs=ntfs and press ↵ Enter . This command will format the drive as readable on any operating system. If the USB is less than 32 GB, you need to enter “format fs=fat32”. If the flash drive has more than 32GB of memory, enter the command “format fs=ntfs”. [2] X Research Source
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 22

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Type exit and press ↵ Enter to return to the standard command prompt. So the USB is ready to be stored and used for other purposes.

Using Registry Editor (Windows)

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 1

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 1

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Slide the switch on the USB. If the USB has an external physical write-protect switch, it may be in the locked position. Try sliding the switch to disable write protection before continuing with this method.
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 2

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 2

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Open Windows Registry Editor on PC by:

  • Press ⊞ Win + S to open the search bar.
  • Type regedit in the search field.
  • Click Registry Editor in the list of results that appear.
  • Click Yes to launch the application.
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 3

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 3

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Go to the Contrp folder. Navigate to the Contrp folder in the system registry. Here you will see many different folders. Here’s how to do it:

  • Click on the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE folder.
  • Click on the SYSTEM folder.
  • Click the CurrentContrpSet folder.
  • Click on the Contrp folder.
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 4

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 4

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Click the StorageDevicePpicies folder (if available). If this folder is in the left pane (under the “Contrp” folder), double-click it to display its contents in the right pane. If you don’t see this folder, you need to do the following to create a new one: [3] X Research Sources

  • Right-click an empty space in the right pane to open the context menu.
  • Select New and then Key from the menu.
  • Enter StorageDevicePpicies and click in the empty space to save the new key.
  • Click StorageDevicePpicies in the left pane to open the folder.
  • Right-click an empty space in the right pane and select New > DWORD .
  • Type WriteProtect and then click anywhere to save the DWORD.
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 5

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Double-click WriteProtect in the right column. The dialog window will appear.
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 6

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 6

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Enter “0” as the “Value Data” value data and click OK . Note: enter 0 without quotes.
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 7

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Close Registry Editor and restart the PC. Changes that we make in Registry Editor usually take effect after the computer restarts.
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 8

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Plug the USB into the PC and open File Explorer. You can open File Explorer by pressing ⊞ Win + E or right-clicking the Start menu and choosing File Explorer .
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 9

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Right-click the flash drive and select Format . Options for erasing and reformatting the drive will appear.
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 10

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Choose a custom format and click Start . The contents on the flash drive will be erased and everything is ready to use. [4] X Research Sources

  • If this doesn’t work, try the “Use Diskpart (Windows)” method.

Using Disk Utility (Mac OS X)

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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 23

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Slide the switch on the USB. If the USB has an external physical write-protect switch, it may be in the locked position. Try sliding the switch to disable write protection before continuing with this method.
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 24

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 24

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Plug the write-protected flash drive into the USB port on your Mac.
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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 25

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Open Finder Mac Finder

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. This is the first icon in the Dock and is usually located at the bottom of the screen.

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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 26

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Click the Applications folder located in the left pane. Several icons will appear in the right pane.
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 27

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 27

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Double-click the Utilities folder located in the right pane.
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 28

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 28

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Double-click Disk Utility . The option has a hard drive icon with a stethoscope in the right pane. The drive format tool will open.
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 29

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Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 29

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Select the flash drive in the left pane. Some information about the drive will appear in the right pane.
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 30

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 30

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Click the Erase tab near the top of the right pane. [5] X Research Sources
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 31

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 31

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Enter a name for the drive (optional). You can keep the default USB name if you want.
Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 32

Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 32

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Select the file system type from within the “Format” menu. If you want the flash drive to be compatible with both PC and Mac, you can choose MS-DOS (FAT) (for USBs under 32GB) or ExFAT (for USBs over 32GB). Otherwise, just choose the type of Mac file system you want.
  • Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 33

    Image titled Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Step 33

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    Click the Erase button in the lower right corner of the active window. The Mac will reformat the write-protected USB and change the Sharing and permissions status to “read and write”. [6] X Research Sources

    • If this doesn’t fix the problem, it’s likely that the flash drive is physically damaged and you should replace the USB with a new one.
  • Advice

    • If you’re trying to access or use a write-protected USB on your Mac, consider going through the drive formatting process on your Windows computer first. In some cases, a USB may show a “read-only” status on a Mac due to file type incompatibility between Apple and Windows.

    Warning

    • If the USB is defective or physically damaged, the instructions for formatting the write-protected flash drive in this article may not be effective. If the flash drive still cannot format despite the above steps, consider buying a new USB.
    X

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    If the USB is write-protected, you probably won’t be able to modify files or format the drive. There are several ways you can remove write protection on your USB. However, the drive can also be damaged or locked with security software and we can’t overwrite it. This wikiHow teaches you how to remove write protection from a USB drive using a Windows or macOS computer.

    Thank you for reading this post How to Format a Write-Proof USB at Tnhelearning.edu.vn You can comment, see more related articles below and hope to help you with interesting information.

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