Windows 10: Unable to access a hard drive that is Write Protected - Please help

Last night there was a power outage at my house and my computer shut itself off while i was using it. When the power came back on I was unable to boot my computer as it kept giving me an endless loop of blue screens, it said WINDOWS STOP CODE : REGISTRY ERROR. I was unable to fix this issue, so i decided to reinstall windows and try to do a custom install so i could keep the old files. The drive that has windows on it that has the registry error currently only has 45.9GB on it out of 464GB, so when i try to reinstall windows on here it says that the drive needs at least 50GB so i cannot do a c

:)

 

How to gain access to write protected external hard drive

1. Check the physical switch. Some external hard drives have a physical switch that can be used to enable or disable write protection. Check the drive for a small switch that may be labeled "Write Protect" or "Lock." If the switch is in the "Write Protect" position, move it to the "Unlock" position.
   
2. Remove the write protection tab. Some external hard drives have a small tab that can be used to enable or disable write protection. This tab is usually located on the side of the drive. If there is a tab, remove it.
   
3. Format the drive. If the drive is formatted as a read-only format, you will need to format it as a writable format. To do this, connect the drive to your computer and open File Explorer. Right-click on the drive and select "Format." In the Format dialog box, select "NTFS" as the file system and click "Start."
   
4. Use a data recovery tool. If the drive is damaged or corrupted, you may need to use a data recovery tool to gain access to the data. There are many data recovery tools available, such as Recuva and Disk Drill. These tools can scan the drive for lost or deleted files and recover them.
   

If you are unable to gain access to the drive using any of these methods, you may need to contact the manufacturer of the drive for assistance.

Here are some additional tips for gaining access to a write protected external hard drive:

• Make sure that the drive is properly connected to your computer.
  
• Try connecting the drive to a different port on your computer.
  
• Try restarting your computer.
  
• Try updating the drivers for your hard drive.
  
• If you are using a USB drive, try formatting it as a FAT32 drive.
  
• If you are using a FireWire drive, try formatting it as a NTFS drive.
  

If you are still unable to gain access to the drive, you may need to contact the manufacturer of the drive for assistance.

 

hard drive not accessible stating "The media is write protected."

Hello,

I sent an external hard drive to a tape backup company.

The company stated that the drive is not accessible with the error message, "The media is write protected."

Any suggestions?

williamj

 

Gettign error "device is write protected" for External Hard drive in Windows 10

Hello Neil,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Community.

We understand the inconvenience you have experienced.

Are you getting the same error when you access the External Hard drive on another computers?

When you see the message "Device is Write Protected", then it indicates that you have limited set of privileges for performing operation on the Hard disk. In simple, you're not allowed to write the drive, apart from reading it. This because the drive is
write-protected. Suggest you to try with the below steps and check it they help you.

1. Right-click on Start button and select Command Prompt(Admin).

2. Type diskpart and press Enter.

3. Now type list volume and press Enter. Now see the volume number the external drive.

4. Then type select volume #, where # is the number of the drive which is showing "write-protected" error. Example,
select volume 3.

5. Type attributes disk clear readonly and press Enter.

• Executing the above command line will reset the Hard drive USB's properties by clearing the Read-Only behavior, so that it is no longer read-only.

6. Type exit and press Enter. Now check if it allows you do access the drive for writing the content.

Keep us posted if you require further assistance.