I feel like this is a really simple and fundamental function that Windows should have, but so far Google has been telling me it isn't possible. How can I mount an NTFS partition read-only in Windows?
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1Without trying to detract from an otherwise nice question and answer, if one wants to try to use ATTR/ATT on an old and archaic version of Windows (i.e. XP), diskpart 5.1.3565 doesn't support that command. Why one might want to use an XP version of diskpart might be seem to present quite a puzzle, but, well, just saying, I couldn't use the goodness in this question and answer - the question did not constrain the question to particular vintages of Windows.– kbulgrienAug 9, 2017 at 22:19
1 Answer
You can modify the volume attributes to make it read-only:
- Switch off "automount" by running
mountvol.exe /N
- Connect disk to Windows (do not mount the disk)
- Run
diskpart
- Enter
list volume
- Enter
select volume X
(where X is the correct volume number from the previous command) - Enter
att vol set readonly
- Enter
detail vol
and ensure the read-only bit is set
Now you can mount the volume and it will be read-only.
See also: http://crawlmsdn.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc302206.aspx
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11Note: those attributes are persistent and stored on the partition, so this is a bit different from the "read-only mount" notion on Linux (ie. simply putting the hard drive back in the original enclosure won't make the partition read-write, and Windows won't be able to boot on it).– Damien BJul 12, 2012 at 21:03
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8To re-enable automatic mounting of new volumes use
mountvol.exe /E
. To remove the readonly flag, select the volume indiskpart
(use the commands in this answer) and enteratt vol clear readonly
.– RonaldDec 5, 2012 at 23:52 -
1Thank you Everett, this also answers my question. I wrote a PowerShell script according to your explanations, may be useful for someone else. Mar 23, 2013 at 21:03
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it also works for volumes mounted on directories instead of dos units! thanks! Jul 27, 2013 at 5:18
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3Under Windows 8.1,
mountvol /n
did not prevent drive from being automounted. One should consider using this beforehand: petri.co.il/configure_usb_disks_to_be_read_only_in_xp_sp2.htm Feb 5, 2014 at 21:19