Never say DI will not drink this water or Nnever say never, we cannot guarantee 100% that with a single application, we can remove write protection from a USB protected. Each USB is a world, each computer is another world and each operating system is a world.
You have come across a message in Windows when copying content to a USB, in which it informs you that is write protectedIn this article we are going to help you by showing you which are the best applications to solve this problem.
In the early 2000s, when USB skewers were starting to be sold as churros, many of these, they included a little eyelash which, when moved, prevented the data from being accidentally erased.
This method it was the same one that was used years before with 5 1/4 and 3 1/2 discs. However, as the years went by, the manufacturers decided that no, they were no longer going to include this type of protection.
Failing that, they included software for, supposedly, protect stored information. And I say supposedly, because it really was useless.
As cloud storage platforms have become popular, it is becoming less common to see users using USB sticks. However, we all have several stored in the drawer so, if necessary, we can use it.
But of course, What if it is write protected? Nothing happens. We just have to make use of some of the different applications that we show you in this article to remove that protection that has appeared overnight.
Remove USB write protection in Windows
To perform this process without installing any application, we must access the registro from Windows, so you must follow the steps that I show you below without skipping any of them and without modifying any other parameter than the one indicated in each step.
For remove write protection on a USB in Windows, the first thing we must do is access the Windows registry, typing run in the Windows search box.
- Next, we write regedit and click OK.
- Next, we navigate through the directories until we reach the following location
- HKEYLOCALMACHINE \ SYSTEM \CurrentControlSet \ Control \ StorageDevicePolicies
- If we can't find StorageDevicePolicies. We must create, placing the mouse in the right column, pressing the right button, select New - Key.
- Named the StorageDevicesPolicies directory
- Next, within this folder, we press the right button of the mouse, and select New - QWORD value (32 bits) and we call WriteProtect and we can continue with the next steps.
- Next, we go to the panel on the right and click twice on WriteProtect.
- In Value Information, we must change the displayed number by the 0 (zero). In this way, we will disable write protection.
- Finally, we click on Accept and we close regedit.
USB write protection should be disabled, but it is likely not to occur. You do not need to restart your computer.
If not, or you do not want to modify the registry, we can use the different applications that I show you below.
Disable or Enable Write Protection
Disable or Enable Write Protection allows us to quickly activate or deactivate write protection on removable USB drives connected to your computer, without having to access the registry, which is the application itself that performs all the task.
The application only has one window with two options: Enable (to activate write protection) or Disable (to deactivate write protection). In this way, we can always have the application at hand if we want to protect the content that we have copied to a USB drive from erasure.
As we enable or disable write protection, the app will display a pop-up message that will inform us of each process carried out. But, to be safe, the best we can do is try to copy or delete a file.
Application does not allow us to choose which units to protect or unprotect and its action affects all external units that we have connected.
You can download the Disable or Enable Write Protection application through this link. The application is compatible as of Windows XP, both in the 32-bit and 64-bit versions.
USB WriteProtector
USB WriteProtector is a simple but practical application designed to protect the important information you store on our removable drives. Although the application is intended to allow us to activate write protection on a USB to protect the information inside, it also allows us to unprotect access.
This app does exactly the same registry modification process that I have shown in the first section, but automatically.
We only have select one of the two options that offers us to activate or deactivate writing on all external drives that we have connected to our computer:
- Enable protection against writing to USB
- Disable protection against writing to USB
If you usually have the need to share information with other users through a pendrive, you should always have this application on hand, we can download an application from this link.
USB WriteProtector is available in multiple languages, including Spanish and is compatible from Windows XP in the 32-bit and 64-bit version. Unlike other applications of this type, USB WriteProtector is portable, that is, we do not need to install it on our computer to take advantage of its function.
Why is my USB write protected?
The reason why we cannot copy information to a USB are several, but the main one is because, from Windows, we do not have the necessary permissions to do so, so we are forced to modify the registry in order to do so.
Yes, it seems absurd, but it is a protective measure. Hence, even though you tried to format the drive, you have not been able to access it to format it, since it is protected.
Another reason why we may have limited writing to a USB drive is that it has write protection tab enabled, a tab that is not usually seen today, however, some manufacturers are still implemented.