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I've got an old Win10 installation USB installation media. It's a pretty nice USB stick and I would like to reuse it, but no matter how I try to mount it, it always shows as read-only. I guess Microsoft must have put some sort of write protection on their installation media (maybe so that unexperienced users would not accidentally delete imporant files?).

I, however, want to write to it, how can I "unlock" in Linux? I hope that the protection is just a software switch, but is there a way to confirm that it is not locked at the hardware level?

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  • I have made Windows 10 USB keys and then re-used them without issue. Try formatting the USB key to clear it.
    – John
    Sep 8, 2019 at 18:48
  • @John I have not made it, it's the USB stick that came with the box when I've bought the license. I cannot format it because it mounts as read-only
    – Mauro F.
    Sep 8, 2019 at 18:50
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    The manufacturer may have made it read-only in some way you cannot clear it (so it is always available later when needed). Just use a different USB key.
    – John
    Sep 8, 2019 at 18:52
  • It's not like USB keys are expensive. I can get a USB-2 128 GB flash drive in the UK for £10.98 (around $15). To go to USB-3 is around 50% more. Sep 8, 2019 at 19:27
  • Some USB keys have a little physical switch for that.
    – harrymc
    Sep 8, 2019 at 19:42

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