This error might occur on USB drives, CD drives, and Micro SD cards. The workarounds for this problem fall in two categories: either it is a hardware problem where the lock is enabled, or it is a software problem related with the operating system. We have listed all the workarounds for this issue. If after following all the solution the error still persists, you should make sure that the device is not bricked. A bricked USB device cannot be accessed from any computer and making the drive work again is very tedious and impossible in some cases. Note: The methods listed below will probably erase all the data present on your removable device.
Solution 1: Toggling Physical Write Protect Switch off
Before we move on to the software related workarounds of the problem, we can check if the problem only lies with the physical write protect switch being toggled. You can easily check this by removing the USB or SD card from your system and see if there are any switches on the device. On SD card devices, there will be a visible “white” switch while in USB devices the switch might vary. Change it to the unlocked position, plug it back into the computer and check if the problem got solved.
Solution 2: Using DiskPart Command Utility
DiskPart is a command-line disk partitioning utility which has been there in Windows for a while. It is used for creating a multipartition layout for removable devices such as flash drives. We can use this utility from the command prompt and see if this solves our problem.
Solution 3: Using Registry Editor
If both the above solutions don’t work, you can try editing some values in the registry. We will change the value of “WriteProtect” in the registry and see if this fixes the problem. Afterward, you will format your USB drive using ‘exfat’ instead of ‘fat32’ and check if this fixes the problem. Unplug your USB before starting the solution. Note: Registry editor is a powerful tool. Deleting registries which you have no knowledge of may render your computer’s performance. Make a backup of the registry before following the rest of the solution. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\Currentcontrolset\control\
Solution 4: Using Disk Management
In this solution, we will be using the Disk Management utility present in Windows OS. Disk management is used for managing all removable and connected storage devices to your computer. It can also be used to create and delete partitions. We will delete the existing partition and create a new one.
Solution 5: Trying on another computer
Sometimes the problem can be computer specific. It is possible that there are some registry values causing the computer to not format the USB device as instructed or there can be some other element which might be malfunctioning. As each computer configuration is different, it is advised that you try on a new computer.
Tips:
Fix: Windows cannot Run Disk Checking on this Volume Because it is Write…Fix: Cannot Delete a Protected Partition Without the Force Protected Parameter…How to Fix ‘Steam Disk Write Error’ When Downloading or Updating on SteamSOLVED: The folder “iTunes” is on a locked disk or you do not have write…
