Why is my windows HDD write protected?

Question

I am trying to modify the HDD that windows 7 is running on using WinHex. But after i edit a few bytes of the physical HDD, i cannot save the changes as it says my HDD is write protected and locked.

Is there anyway to actually edit a HDD in windows while windows is running? Please help

Answer 1

Even chkdsk can not access a running c: drive. You need to boot from another disk/CD/USB Stick.

Other drives should work, as long as there is not a file open on the drive.

Answer 2

Open a command box and type in the following commands individually, and hit enter after each one.

diskpart
list disk
select disk 0 (or whatever disk you are trying to change)
attributes disk clear readonly (this command is not available on XP)

That should do it for you.