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How To Remove Write Protection From USB Drive In Windows 8?

Aug 12, 2014

Sometimes when you are copying files from one disk to another, it may happen that you get an error message telling you that the destination disk is “Write Protected”. This protection can also be applied in USB drives. This tutorial will show you how to remove this protection using Windows 8 in order to copy files on drives.

There are 2 reasons why this protection may be activated on your USB drive. 1. The first reason is because of virus attacks. 2. The second and most frequent is because your USB drive has a lock switch. No matter from which of the above reasons this problem occurred, here is how to fix it.

Step 1: From your desktop press Win+R on your keyboard to launch Run window.

Step 2: Inside Run window type regedit and press Enter on your keyboard.

Step 3: If you got prompted by UAC click Yes.

Step 4: Inside the Registry Editor window left pane follow this path HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrrentControlSet/Control/StorageDevicePolicies.

Step 5: Now select Storage Device Policies and inside right pane right-click on empty space, choose New ->DWORD(32 bit).

Step 6: Name it Write Protect and assign value 0.

Step 7: Click OK to save your changes and close all active windows.

Step 8: Make sure you restart your computer, so changes can take effect.
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