Error when copying files to a pendrive: this is how you deactivate the write protection of a USB

There are two different ways to remove said protection. We have the option of modifying the Windows registry, which is relatively simple. Then we have the “hammer blow” option which is through Diskpart, which is somewhat more complex and much slower. We will see these two options and explain in detail how to do it.

Modify the Windows registry

This method is not particularly complicated, but you should keep in mind that you must follow it to the letter. We are going to make adjustments to the Windows registry and modifying a parameter improperly can damage the operating system. So follow the following steps to the letter:

1. Press the Win + R key combination to open the run option
2. Enter the text “regedit” and click “OK”.
3. We will get a notice and we say “Yes”.
4. We open the “SYSTEM” folder.
5. We now expand the «CurrentControlSet» folder.
6. Next, we expand the “Control” folder.
   • Note: You will probably start the registry already in the “Control” folder.
7. We go down until we find the “StorageDevicePolicies” folder. If this folder does not appear, you must follow this process:
   1. Right click on the “Control” folder.
   2. We click on “New” and now click on “Password”
   3. We give it the name “StorageDevicePolicies” (without the quotes).
   4. Now, on the right, in the blank space, we right-click, click on “New” and create a “WDORD (32-bit) Value”.
   5. We name it “WriteProtect”.
8. We double click on “WriteProtect” and make sure that it has the number “0” in “Value information” [cero].
9. We accept and restart the computer so that the change is applied.

We should now be able to write to the drive and do whatever we want with it, including formatting it. If you are afraid of touching something wrong, you can choose Diskpart, it is safer.

Forcing it through Diskpart

It may be that by modifying the registry the write protection persists, but that’s okay, there is a more “beast” alternative. Within the “Command Prompt” we can execute the Diskpart command which is responsible, no matter what, for formatting the drive. This option can format and remove write protection under any circumstances. The process is the following:

1. Type the term “Command Prompt” in Windows Search and open it as administrator.
2. A notice will appear on the screen and we must say “Yes.”
3. Enter the diskpart command and press “Enter” to enter this function.
4. Now we are going to ask you to list all the units connected to our computer, to do this enter the following command: list disk
5. Next, we must select the unit, to do this we must write this command: select disk *disk number*. The “disc number” appears in the list.
6. To delete all files and folders on this drive, we must enter the following command: clean
7. Now let’s create a partition, to do this we enter this command: create partition primary
8. Now, we must proceed to select the partition with this command: select partition 1
9. Next, we must enter the command: active
10. The next thing we must do is format it, to do this, we will write the command: format fs=ntfs
11. We are going to assign a letter, to do this, we put this command: assing letter=*letra*
12. We close the window.

We can say that this is not the fastest or easiest process, but it is the most effective. Basically, what we are doing is formatting the drive like a beast, without caring about anything at all. This process bypasses any type of restriction and is always completed, although it usually takes a long time.