Lexar Usb Format Write Protected

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Have you ever tried to format your SD card on your PC only to see its write-protected, which means you can't even access the SD card, can't access your files on the SD card, that can be distressing right? Here's your relief, in this article, I'll teach you easy ways you can remove write protection from your SD card and then format it.

In this video, I will be showing you a method which can be used to format write protection on your USB flash drive, HP pen drive, SD card, hard disk, or exte. Usb flash drive is write protected usb flash drive cannot format According to Wikipedia write protection is a physical parts that was built in digital devices to protect inside data from being changed or altered.

    • Method 1: Check SD Card Properties

    • Method 2: Using CMD to Clear Read-Only Attributes from SD Card

    • Method 3: Disable Write Protection with Registry Editor

What Does Write Protection Mean?

Write protection (read-only) is the ability of a storage media such as SD card to prevent new data from being written or changed. This means you can read the information contained in the disk, but cannot delete them or copy files, so you can't format the SD when it's write-protected. When this happens, your SD card becomes useless until you remove the write protection from the SD card.

How to Remove Write Protection from SD Card?

One easy way you can remove write protection from your SD card is to make sure the tiny lock switch on the left side of your SD card is slid up. However, sadly, the SD card could still be write-protected even if it’s not locked. In that case, you can use the following ways to remove the write protection.

1Check SD Card Properties

Go to “This PC”, look for your card reader under “Devices with removable storage”, then right-click it and hit “properties”. There could be an option to remove the write protection, click on the option and try again.

2Using CMD to Clear Read-Only Attributes from SD Card

Generally, Windows comes with CMD tools that allow you to check bad sectors on the target drive or create and delete the partition. You can clear read-only attributes using the following steps:

Click on “Start” and type “cmd” in the search box, right-click and select “Run as administrator” to open, then type the following commands and press “Enter” after each:

  • diskpart

  • list disk

  • select disk #

When Disk attributes cleared successfully appear in the window, you can type “exit” and click Enter key. After this, you have removed write protection from SD card successfully.

3Disable Write Protection with Registry Editor

If the CMD does not work and your SD card still displays “write- protected”, you can also disable the write protection using registry editor using the following steps:

Step 1: Press 'Windows key +R' to open the run dialogue. Type ' Regedit' and click 'OK' to open the registry editor.

Step 2: Expand the entries on the left-hand pane to navigate to the following path.

  • ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE

  • SYSTEMcurrentcontrolsetcontrolstoragedevicepolicies

Step 3: Right-click 'write protection' and modify the value data from 1 to 0. Then click 'OK'.

Step 4: Close the 'Registry Editor' and restart the PC. Then you have successfully remove the write prtection from SD card.

How to Format SD Card after Removing Write Protection?

Many uses may wonder if they can format a write protected SD card. The answer is Yes. Once you’ve unlocked the write-protected SD card, you can use it properly. If you want to format SD card after removing write protection, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Click “Start”, type “Run” in the search bar and hit “Enter”.

Step 2: Now in the run box, type “CMD” and hit 'OK.'

Step 3: This will open command prompt window, type “diskpart” to run diskpart utility.

Step 4: Next, type “list disk” to locate the drives on your PC.

Step 5: Next, type “disk 1” (where 1 should be the number of your SD card).

Step 6: Next, type “Clean”, this will erase all data on your SD card.

Step 7: Then, you have to create a new partition. Type “create partition primary”.

Step 8: Now type “select partition 1” (where 1 stands for the newly created partition).

Step 9: After this, type 'Active' to make the partition active.

Step 10: Finally, type “format fs=ntfs (or format fs=fat32)” to format the partition to the desired file system.

The above method only works for Windows. You can learn how to format SD card on Mac as well.

Bonus: How to Recover Data from Accidentally Formatted SD Card?

What if you accidentally formatted your SD card? Here's a great software you can use to recover all your data. This Formatted SD Card Recovery Software - AnyRecover can help you recover any lost data from any storage device quickly. The best part is, you can use it easily even without any special tech knowledge.

Features of iMyFone AnyRecover:

A professional formatted card recovery software which can unformat the card and get your files back easily.

Retrieve data lost due to accidental deletion, formatting, virus attack, etc.

Recovers over 1000 file types including photos, videos, audio files, Microsoft files, Adobe files, etc.

It is very secure; ensures only you can access recovered files plus it recovers files without overwriting original data.

Restore all lost/deleted files from the formatted SD card or other memory card types.

Steps to Recover Data from Formatted SD Card with Software:

Step 1. Launch AnyRecover. Connect your SD card to your computer. Choose the SD card where your data is missing under “External Removable Devices' tab.

Step 2. After selecting the location, hit “Start” button to start scanning. AnyRecover will begin all-round scanning

Step 3. Once the scanning is complete, AnyRecover will display all data based on the file type or folder to which the file belongs. You can filter the files you want and select them to preview. Then hit “Recover” to recover your lost data.

Conclusion

By now, you should be able to access or format the write-protected SD card using the above-stated methods. Moreover, if you've accidentally formatted your SD card, then you can recover all your data using AnyRecover as I mentioned above. So that's it guys, I hope you find this information helpful.

Remove write protection for usb flash drive

Lexar Usb Format Tool

Format

Table of Contents

What is usb flash write protection

There are several cases that your usb flash drive may have format problem and it may say 'usb is write protected and cannot be format'.

  • usb flash drive is write protected
  • usb flash drive cannot format

According to Wikipedia write protection is a physical parts that was built in digital devices to protect inside data from being changed or altered.

When usb flash drive or usb disk suffered potentional damages, or when it contains bad blocks, or when the switch of the write protection is damaged, it may say the usb drive is write protected.

Write protected usb pendrive cannot format

When you try to format a usb flash drive which has write protection, it may warns the following format error like Windows was unable to complete format usb write protected.

Remove write protection for usb flash drive

How to fix 'The disk is write protected' when formatting usb drive? The next step, we would share several ways to remove the write protection error.

5 ways to remove write protection from usb flash drive or usb disk

Method#1 : Turn off Write Protection Button

There is a write protection button lock that you may turn on/off. If the write protection button is turned on, it would warn an write protection error when you are trying to

  • copying files on the usb flash to somewhere else
  • pasting files on the media
  • deleting or making changes to any file on the media
  • formatting usb flash/sd

To remove the error, do swith off this Write Protection Button in order to remove its write protection on your usb or sd.

Checking Write Protection Button

Method#2 : Check whether usb drive is full

There is possibilities that when USB flash drive shows Write protect error it could be caused due to insufficient storage. When the usb disk is full, it would stop you save new files onto the media.

To check out if your drive is full or not, open Windows Explorer and right-click on your USB drive and select “Properties”.

disk or usb is full

If your disk space is full, you need to remove some files or folders to somewhere esle or just delete them to reclaim some free space. And the error would be gone.

If it was not the disk full problem, it would pop up the following error message telling you that you cannot delete files due to write protection error. Then the error was brought by some other issues, that you may follow this article to look for other solutions.

cannot delete file folder full write protected

Method#3 : Disable Files Read-Only Attributes - a single file/folder

When a single file or folder has been labled or setted with read-only previously or if it was a file/folder setted as read-only under the administrator privileges, then you cannot delete them or make changes to them. And this could forbid you from formatting your usb flash/memory card.

To solve the problem, you may just change the property of the file/folder from read-only to be off with read-only mode. Just right click the file, and then you will see the option of unselect 'Read-only' under its attributes options. See a photo as followes.

Lexar Usb Format Write Protected Hard Drive

check usb read only or not - delete file failure/format usb failure

If there is a single file that was set with Read-only attributes, you won't be able to format the disk/pendrive. What you need to do is to check every file on your flash drive or disk and make sure not even a file is marked as read-only.

Remove media read-only attritues with CMD - the whole drive/card

There is possibilities that the property of your usb or sd may be set with read-only, how to remove the readonly attributes? Here comes with the steps to remove readonly with CMD.

In this method, we will remove write protection from Pendrive/sd using commands in Cmd. This will fully clean the write protection of the Pendrive.

Step 1. Click on Start->Cmd. Type Diskpart and press enter.

Step 2. Type list disk.

Step 3. Type select disk 1

Step 4. Now type “attributes disk clear readonly” and press enter.

remove readonly

Now exit from cmd and format your SD/Pendrive. Then the write protection will be removed.

Lexar Usb Remove Write Protection

If this one still does not work, try the method#4.

Method#4 : Set registery value of WriteProtec to be 0

The readonly value is also controled by registry of computer. If this stops you from writing, coping, pasting or formatting, just follow the steps below.

Step 1. Open Run -> type Regedit -> click on Registry Editor.

open regedit

Protected

Step 2. Now follow up this path in Registry Editor

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentConrolSet/Control/StorageDevicePolicy
Format

Step 3. There is write protection, just click on it and set its value to 0.

set write protect value 0

What If You didn’t Find StorageDevicePolicies?

If there is no StorageDevicePolicies in Registry Editor, then you may create one by the following guide. Find the following folder and then create one.

Right click the empty place under Control,

New>DWORD and name it WriteProtect and set its value to 0. Click OK

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE>System>CurrentControlSet>Control

open storage device policy

open storage device policy

Here you need to right click on the white space in the control folder and choose New>Key and carefully enter the name “StorageDevicePolicies”

If the file have been created and value set to 0, then exit Regedit and reboot your computer.

If you did not know how to create a key, watch the following video which would tell you more.

Video

Method#5 : Scan virus for your usb flash

Lexar usb format write protected usb drive

When a virus infected your usb flash, or your sd, the usb could be locked by virus with write protection. Then you need to remove that writes protection error by removing the virus at first.

Scan your media with antirus program, and your write protection will get easily removed.

Remove virus from usb flash

Here is a list of recommended anti-virus programs that you may consider

  • Microsoft Smart Defender- if you are using Windows 10, it is automaticlaly built in the OS, you may just right click your media and then start scanning virus by Smart Defender
  • Bitdefender Antivirus Plus 2019
  • Norton Antivirus Plus
  • Kaspersky Anti-virus
  • Eset Nod32 Antivirus

Please note: usually the antivirus software are not compatible with each other since they are all requiring a unique control on the OS, so we would recommend you just have one antivirus program installed on your PC to avoid potential risks.

5 Free USB Format Tool Download to Format Wirte Proteted USB

Format Tool #1: IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free

IM-Magic Partition Resizer Free edition is a 100% free program that asks for no pay, no limited functions provided inside of the disk tool. It has a 'Format Partition' option for you to format the media for free. Here are the steps that you may follow.

Step 1: Install the freeware on your Windows PC and then connect your usb/disk to Windows.

Step 2: Open freeware from its desktop icon and then after it loads your media, right click it, and then go to the option 'Format Partition'

Format usb drive

Step 2: And then select what kind of file system you want to format your usb, or just leave it as default.

Format usb

Step 3: confirm the formatting by clicking 'Apply Changes'

Format Tool #2: HDD Low Level Format

HDD Low Level Format is provided by HDDGURU.COM on their page

https://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/

And its download link https://hddguru.com/software/HDD-LLF-Low-Level-Format-Tool/HDDLLF.4.40.exe

You may copy and paste the download link in your browser to start downloading the free tool.

Warning: any low level formatting of flash drive or disk is shorten its life and can bring the lifetime of your media shorter.

Format Tool #3: USB Disk Storage Format Tool

Lexar Usb Format Write Protected Usb Drive

Format write protected usb

USB Disk Storage Format Tool is provided by Authorsoft and it is also a 100% free tool.

You may download it here

Format usb drive

Format Tool #4: Easeus Partition Master

Lexar Usb Format Write Protected Sd Card

Easeus Partiton Master is simple and fast for formatting a hard drive or usb flash with multiple useful functions for managing a hard drive. You may download it here:

Format Tool #5: Kingston Format Utility

Kingston Format Utility is dedicated for usb flash formatting that you can find more information on its homepage

https://www.kingston.com/en/support/technical/downloads/111247

You may download it here:

Useful Video Guide for Removing Write Protected USB

Here are some useful video guide that you may watch to know better of how to remove usb protection and format the usb drive.

Format Write Protected Usb

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