How to Remove Write Protection from USB Drive or Hard Drive in Windows
- Step 1: Check and Fix Hard Disk Error.
- Step 2: Remove Encryption.
- Step 3: Remove or Clean Attributes.
- Step 4: Edit Registry.
- Step 5: Recover Data and Format the Disk.
19.08.2022
How do I turn off WD write protection?
Hold down the Windows key and press R to open the Run window. When the dialog box opens asking you to give the Run utility the ability to make changes to your computer, click “Yes.” Double-click “WriteProtect” and change the value from “1” to “0” to change its status from on to off.
How do I unprotect an external hard drive?
Open Windows File explorer and select the Drive letter of your External Hard dirve (eg. h:). Then from the Properties dialog select the Security tab and give yourself permissions to read-write.
Why is my external hard drive suddenly write-protected?
In general, disk write protected can be caused by virus attack or infection, corrupted file system and wrong value of Windows Registry Key, etc. If you are troubled in this issue, consider whether there are chances that your hard drive is infected with virus and run anti-virus software to check for it.
What is write protection and how do I remove it?
How to Remove Write Protection Using Lock Switch. If your computer tells you the media is write-protected, look for a write protection switch (also called a lock switch) on the USB or SD card. If the media has this switch, make sure the switch is set to write, not read-only.
How do you format a drive that is write-protected?
Format write-protected USB
Format write-protacted USB disk. To do this, follow these steps: left-click This PC -> select your USB-drive and right-click on it. From the list, select and click Format. Wait for the process to be completed.
How do I open a write-protected hard drive?
Restore Access to a Write-Protected Hard Drive
- Open a Command prompt by clicking Start, typing command, and clicking Command Prompt.
- Type diskpart and press Enter.
- Type list volume and press Enter.
- Type select volume #, where # is the number of the drive that’s giving you the “write-protected” error.
How do I remove write protection from a folder in Windows 10?
Here is the detailed guide.
- Open File Explorer, find the file you want to delete.
- Right-click the target file, and choose Properties.
- Under the General tab, there is an “Attributes” option.
- Uncheck the Read-only option, click OK to save your change.
Why is my hard drive read only?
The cause of the “Read Only” behavior is due to the format of the file system. Many storage devices such as USB drives and external hard disk drives come pre-formatted in NTFS because a larger number of consumers are using them on PCs.
How do I turn off read only?
Remove read only
- Click the Microsoft Office Button. , and then click Save or Save As if you have previously saved the document.
- Click Tools.
- Click General Options.
- Clear the Read-only recommended check box.
- Click OK.
- Save the document. You might need to save it as another file name if you have already named the document.
How do I change my hard drive from read-only Windows 10?
Method 2: Alternatively, you can also use Disk part commands to clear the read-only attributes of your disk or volume.
- Open Command Prompt in Admin mode. Click Start, type CMD.
- Type ‘ATTR DISK CLEAR READONLY’ and press enter.
- Type ‘ATTR VOLUME CLEAR READONLY’ and press enter.
How do I change my external hard drive from read-only to read and write on Mac?
Select the drive in the Finder. Press Command-I to display the Get Info window. At the bottom of the window, click the arrow next to Sharing & Permissions to display permissions. Click on the Privilege menu next to your username and choose Read & Write.
Can read only files be copied?
File copying will never fail because the source is read only. File copying will fail if the existing destination file is read only.
Why is my WD Passport read-only on Mac?
When a WD My Passport drive is with an NTFS file system, Mac couldn’t directly access the content. By default, the drive will show as read-only on Mac. To fix this issue, you’ll need an NTFS for Mac software to help you get full control of this formatted drive.
How do I enable write to an external hard drive on a Mac?
Click the drop-down menu beside the account name or group whose permissions you want to change and then select the privilege you want to give them. For example, if you want all users and administrators to have read and write access to the external hard drive, you’d give “Read & Write” permissions to the “staff” group.
How do I open a read only file?
Open a file as read only from Windows Explorer with Shift key
- In Windows Explorer, hold down the Shift key and right click your file.
- You can now “Open as Read-Only” or “Open in Protected View”
What does it mean by read only?
Read-only is a file attribute which only allows a user to view a file, restricting any writing to the file. Setting a file to “read-only” will still allow that file to be opened and read; however, changes such as deletions, overwrites, edits or name changes cannot be made.
Why can’t I move files from my Mac to an external hard drive?
The reason why you can’t transfer files between a Mac computer and an NTFS external storage device is that the NTFS format is not a compatible file system in macOS. Apple macOS doesn’t have the right to write to an NTFS device.
How do I fix my Mac when it says I don’t have permission?
If you need permission to open an item on Mac
- On your Mac, select the item, then choose File > Get Info, or press Command-I.
- Click the arrow next to Sharing & Permissions to expand the section.
- Click the pop-up menu next to your user name to see the permissions settings.
How do I change my passport from read-only on Mac?
Here is how to fix the read-only WD My Passport in Disk Utility:
- Go to Finder > Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
- Select the WD My Passport drive at the left sidebar.
- Click on First Aid and click on “Run” to repair the WD My Passport drive.
- Click “Done” after the operation completes.
How do I make my external hard drive compatible with Mac and PC without formatting?
Solution 1.
If you want to use Windows hard drive on Mac without formatting, using a cross-platform NTFS driver for Mac is the best choice. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is the best pick. This easy-to-operate NTFS for Mac software can change hard drive from read-only Mac without erasing and make the NTFS drive writable on Mac.
How do I make my external hard drive compatible with Mac and PC?
How to format exFAT drive
- Connect the drive to the Mac.
- Open Disk Utility.
- In disk utility, you will have an internal and external drive.
- Select the drive you want to format and click erase.
- Give the partition a name and select exFAT for the format.
- Click Erase to finish and you will complete the procedure.
Why does my external hard drive say I don’t have permission Mac?
Permission settings on Mac are designed to control who can access and edit files on the computer. If you don’t change its read-only mode for your disk, then your external hard drive will say you don’t have permission on mac.
How do I make something read only?
GUI Method. Right click on the file, you want to make it Read-only. Click on the Properties tab from the context menu. Click the Read-only check box belong to Attributes from on the General tab from the popped up Properties window.
The history of hidden files
To allow easy navigation, a single file with a dot (.) was added to each directory. Secondly, a double dot file (..) was added to easily move up in the directory structure. As these files had no real data in them, a quick hack was added to the ls binary.