How to remove write protection of USB mass storage with no visible lock/unlock

I am seeking help either immediate help or as soon as someone gets a chance... please.

I bought a usb flash drive (my laptop recognizes it as a generic usb mass storage device) from the library... cheap I know... anyways I was using it prepairing to restore my pc... I removed it without clicking on the safely remove button and now it says cant remove files because its write protected... and it wasnt before... did I mess it up if not then how do I remove a write protection if I have no lock/unlock switch deal? I scaned it for viruses/malware etc... I can view all the files but cant delete them and I wanted to clear them off so I can use it for another purpose... can anyone help please...

insert the USB device, then

control panel->Admin Tools->Disk Management

Your boot drive will show as C:\ and under
Layout will be Partition
File System will show NTFS

How does your USB show up?

One more thing to check:
> Click Start->Run, enter: regedit
> Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control
> Does sub-key StorageDevicePolicies exist? If yes, right click to delete this sub-key

an answer for both of you....jobeard and lookinaround

well....the usb mass storage device in question shows up as drive F D or E depending on which usb whole thing...im soooooo aggrivated over this whole ...no pun in intended was just a typo....thing isnt good....anyway um...im gonna try both of the suggestions...and ill let you both know what happenes tomorrow...thank you for responding....


also i got anitvirus issues i didnt even know about until earilier today.....argh

hmm; how does the Disk Mgr show the layout (not the drive letters)?
If it doesn't show Partition, then we need to reformat the device.

I have this same problem and the usb stick is an emtec 32gb. It has no switch and I have looked all over the registry to see if I could find that entry Storage Device Policies and it is not there anywhere that I can see. I cannot format the drive as it is write protected and it will not allow me to delete or change the partition either. I am at a loss as to what to do. Is this a one-way event which has now made my usb drive useless?

The same problem about write protection issue.. and it messing me up.. I don't store any file on my USB. it always lead to write-protected thing..I can't reformat also because of that write protextion.. can you help me take this issue thank you

I found this; how to make it R/O

So if you go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
look for StorageDevicePolicies -- if found, open it and look for WriteProtect - - delete the key

if storage device policies doesnt exist? what do I do now. im having the same problem. thank you in advance

Try this ..it definitely works...I found it after lot of research online..

http://www.pny.com.tw/index.php?cls=2&mode=download

download and use Ufix-II

all the very best !!

I do everything like shown below: But again when I want format USB drive 8 gb show me message write protected.
WHO CAN HELP SLOVE THIS PROBLEM, PLEASE

To setup read only USB storage device operation, follow these steps below:

Click on the Start Button and type in Regedit and hit Enter.
Navigate through HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control.
Right click on Control and select New and then Key. Call the new key StorageDevicePolicies.
Right click on StorageDevicePolicies and select New and then Dword. Call the new dword WriteProtect.
Right click on WriteProtect and select Properties. Set the value to 1 and hit OK.

The computer is now configured to disable writing to USB storage devices

Run regedit
click on edit/permissions
make sure read and full control are checked for permissions for all that are listed
unplug USB replug it in
write protect should be removed

If you are 100% sure it is not software, and your EMTEC or other inexpensive flash drive is stuck in write-protect mode, without a physical switch, you need to do a USB FLASH RECOVERY, using the PNY software UFIX2:

http://www.pny.com.tw/index.php?cls=2&mode=download

I know someone already mentions this, and he is correct, this is what is needed, if you are sure it is not a registry entry or a software setting.

Enjoy!