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Thread: Remove Write Protection from external Hard disk

  1. #1
    Join Date
    May 2009
    Posts
    47

    Remove Write Protection from external Hard disk

    I have a old 80 GB external hard disk which is currently giving a write protection error when I try to move data from the drive. I had not set this options. I had just copied some data form a windows vista computer and now I am trying to paste the data in windows xp. But the hard disk is giving error of windows disc is write protected. Now I cannot move file neither I can format the hard disk to remove this error. What should I do here right now.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Posts
    2,496

    Re: Remove Wirte Protection from external Hard disk

    The setting can be disabled by right clicking on the external hard disk. First connect the hard disk and then open my computer. Right click on the hard disk and remove the tick from the check box next to read only. Exit the properties box. Now try to move the data files. Other wise there is a freeware tool called unlocker. This tool can be used to remove the protection from the disk. Download unlocker and then just right click on the drive in my computer and select unlock.
    Unlocker Download.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    2,812

    Re: Remove Wirte Protection from external Hard disk

    To remove the issue you will need to edit the windows registry file. This addition can be caused to a infection. First go to start menu and then click on run. Type regedit. In the registry editor windows go to file menu and click on export. Save the file to a desired location. This is because in case if there is any error you can restore the registry file back again. Then Navigate to the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > System > CurrentControlSet > Control > StorageDevicePolicies. Now right click on writeprotect and then click on modify. Change the value to 0 and click on OK. Repeat the same for ControlSet001 and ControlSet002. Close it and restart your system.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
    Posts
    2,327

    Re: Remove Wirte Protection from external Hard disk

    The lock can be opened and closed by single command in cmd. Insert your drive and give the chdir command to locate your hard drive. Then type sys: on to enable the write protection and sys: off to disable the write protection service. Also see your bios settings. Some bios have write protection settings. If it is enable then you have to disable it from there.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    1

    Re: Remove Wirte Protection from external Hard disk

    Quote Originally Posted by T.j. View Post
    To remove the issue you will need to edit the windows registry file. This addition can be caused to a infection. First go to start menu and then click on run. Type regedit. In the registry editor windows go to file menu and click on export. Save the file to a desired location. This is because in case if there is any error you can restore the registry file back again. Then Navigate to the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > System > CurrentControlSet > Control > StorageDevicePolicies. Now right click on writeprotect and then click on modify. Change the value to 0 and click on OK. Repeat the same for ControlSet001 and ControlSet002. Close it and restart your system.
    Am also having problems writing [not reading] to the external hard disk drive within XP on my Dell laptop . . . followed your recommendation and I don't have StorageDevicePolicies entry under control . . . any thoughts?

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2007
    Posts
    1,098

    Re: Remove Write Protection from external Hard disk

    Just download this registry file to enable the write protection to USB external drive. Double click the .reg file extract from the .Rar to merge the registry key entries.
    Attached Files Attached Files

  7. #7
    Join Date
    May 2010
    Posts
    1

    Re: Remove Write Protection from external Hard disk

    thank you very much

  8. #8
    tonyqhard1 Guest

    Re: Remove Write Protection from external Hard disk

    I did the same using vista but it created controlset 003 instead of 2 and doesnt contain systemdevicepolicies

  9. #9
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Posts
    2,335

    Re: Remove Write Protection from external Hard disk

    Quote Originally Posted by tonyqhard1 View Post
    I did the same using vista but it created controlset 003 instead of 2 and doesnt contain systemdevicepolicies
    Have you tried to disable write caching on the usb hdd in device manager. You can choose in the disk propeties for optimize for quick removal or optimize for performance. CHOOSE optimize for quick removal. Did you also use the registry file uploaded by timon for fixing the Write Protection?

  10. #10
    tonyqhard1 Guest

    Re: Remove Write Protection from external Hard disk

    yeah my drive is in exFAT so i just moved everything off it and reformatted it. when i uploaded the registry file it made me have control001 and control003 instead of 2 and then my back up file didnt work so i dont know what else to do, i just started a zip file of my 160gb of music and movin it around so i can reformat

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Dec 2007
    Posts
    1,736

    Re: Remove Write Protection from external Hard disk

    Hi tonyqhard1,

    What is the make/model of the drive and how old is it? You can try to do the below suggestions:

    First click on Start > Run... > regedit > OK

    Highlight "Computer" and right-click. Select "Export" and save the backup somewhere safe. Just double-click it if you want to reset the changes you make.

    Navigate to the following registry location:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Contro l\StorageDevicePolicies

    Click on StorageDevicePolicies and on the right-hand side there should be a DWORD value labelled "WriteProtect". If there isn't one, create it. Either way, make sure it has a value of 0. Double-click it to change it.

    Do the same with the following two locations (creating any non-existent keys/values along the way):

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet002\Control

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Posts
    1

    Re: Remove Write Protection from external Hard disk

    thank you very much for all

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Posts
    1

    Re: Remove Wirte Protection from external Hard disk

    Quote Originally Posted by T.j. View Post
    To remove the issue you will need to edit the windows registry file. This addition can be caused to a infection. First go to start menu and then click on run. Type regedit. In the registry editor windows go to file menu and click on export. Save the file to a desired location. This is because in case if there is any error you can restore the registry file back again. Then Navigate to the path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > System > CurrentControlSet > Control > StorageDevicePolicies. Now right click on writeprotect and then click on modify. Change the value to 0 and click on OK. Repeat the same for ControlSet001 and ControlSet002. Close it and restart your system.
    Thank you so much - this worked for me!!

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    india
    Posts
    2

    Re: Remove Write Protection from external Hard disk

    i done all this process to remove write protection, but my hard disk is 1tb, now whenever i copy the data in it,it copy upto 18 GB after that it wont copy. what to do: and one more thing my hard disk is formatted only on exfat, ntfs is not supported what to do plz anyone tell me:

  15. #15
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Posts
    3,516

    Re: Remove Write Protection from external Hard disk

    Quote Originally Posted by razb View Post
    i done all this process to remove write protection, but my hard disk is 1tb, now whenever i copy the data in it,it copy upto 18 GB after that it wont copy. what to do: and one more thing my hard disk is formatted only on exfat, ntfs is not supported what to do plz anyone tell me:
    Well, if there is on the external drive then you can just format it. If however there is some software on the drive which helps it work, these are known as drivers, then i would suggest the following. click start> Run and type CMD. this will open the command prompt. now type CONVERT E: /FS:NTFS, where "E" is the drive letter for the external drive and that will be converted to NTFS. Check similar kind of thread and suggestion given from here - How to reformat exFAT to NTFS

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