USB drive becomes write protected after inserting it

Question

Whenever I insert a USB drive in my desktop PC running Windows 7 Ultimate, it becomes write protected. Then when I use it on my laptop, I can't delete the files on it.

I already tried scanning for malware and viruses.

Can I repair this, eventually without reformatting?

Answer 1

This either happens by the hardware lock or a software setting:

1. You have write protected the USB drive by sliding a lock.

   To resolve this, you can slide it back to be unlocked. Use tape if you accidentally lock it.

2. Your storage device policy is set to be write protected.

   To resolve this, open up the registry editor (Start -> Run -> regedit) and browse to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies, there you can create / edit a new DWORD called WriteProtect and set the value to 0.

   If StorageDevicePolicies doesn't exist, you can safely create that registry key as well.

Check the latter on both your desktop and laptop.

Answer 2

If the flash drive is especially old or sees heavy use, there's a chance that it's on its last legs and the flash controller can no longer (safely) write to the memory blocks. If that's the case, copy everything off of the drive to a safe location as soon as possible.

(Note: I'm not familiar with how operating systems actually handle this scenario, as I've yet to experience it myself. I'm just throwing out the possibility.)

EDIT: Sorry Bob, I didn't see your reply to the question before I posted this.

Answer 3

If there's nothing physically wrong with the drive this could help anyone looking at this thread.

From an Administrator cmd prompt (Win+X, A):

diskpart
list disk
select disk X (Replace "X" with the number of your write-protected hard drive.)
attributes disk clear readonly

Answer 4

Insert USB drive

• go to Computer
• Right click the USB Drive icon and click Properties
• Click the security tab.
• Click edit under the Group or user names display.
• Click on Everyone (so that it is highlighted) then below in the permissions for Everyone area, tick Full Control.

Answer 5

Open up a console (cmd.exe) and type diskpart. Type list disk then select disk 0 (change the 0 to whatever number your USB drive is. Type detail disk and check the "Current Read-only State" and the "Read-only" attributes. If it says "No" for the first and "Yes" for the second, your USB drive may be going bad. If it's the other way around, then it's a policy/program messing with it. If this is the case, back up your files on the USB drive, open up another console and type (again, replace the 0 on select disk 0 with your USB drive number):

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0
clean
create partition primary
format fs=FAT32 quick

Safely remove the USB drive and try it again.

Answer 6

Works except in windows 7.

1. Right-click the USB drive icon then select Properties.
2. Go to Sharing > Advanced sharing.
3. Tick Share this folder
4. Click Permissions.
5. Select Everyone.
6. Check Allow under Full Control.
7. Click Apply > Apply > Close.