Unable to Write/Delete data on External USB disk in Windows 7.

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ExchangeKida

10

Thursday, February 11, 2010 6:42 AM

Hii,

I recently bought a new AMD x4 945, MSI 785 chipset system and installed Windows 7 ultimate edition

Sign In to on it. Now when i connect my old External USBWD hdd to it it is successfuly able to connect, it is able to read copy the data but i am not able to delte/write any data to it. I connet the same HDD to my old Vote

Windows XP sp2 system and it works fine there. Seems like the HDD got only read only access in windows 7. How will be able to write/delete data from it ?

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Gordon 7

905

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= Unanswered = Answered

Friday, February 12, 2010 8:26 AM

Hi, Regarding the hotfix, I think you can install it directly. The hotfix will replace/update some USB related system files which would be helpful for USB related issues. Sign In to
Vote

I can't map a network drive from Windows 7, using the exact same ...

Actually, I have had this type of issue before and format is a quick fix to me (please remember to formant it under Windows 7). Since you do not have other free space, you can consider copy those data to another PC (of your friends or the PC in your office) Meanwhile, what would happen when you try to save file to this USB HDD? If you receive error message stating "The disk is write-protected. Remove the write-protection or use another disk, please remove write protection from your USB flash drive using the below method: ==================== 1. Open start menu, in the search bar type REGEDIT and press enter. This will open the registry editor. 2. Navigate to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies Note: If the registry key StorageDevicePolicies does not exist, you will need to create it manually. 3. Highlight StorageDevicePolicies, and then create a New DWORD (32-bit) Value named as WriteProtect. 4. Double click the key WriteProtect in the right window and set the value to 0 in the Value Data Box and press OK button 5. Restart your computer and try copying files into your USB drives. If the issue persists, you may have to run the following command as a fix: ==================== 1.Start > search bar -> CMD and press enter 2.type< diskpart 3.type< list disk 4.type< select disk # (# is the number of the USB HDD youve pluged in) 5.type< attributes disk clear readonly Do you still have the same issue after reboot? Please post your update info if you have make any progress

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Started: 2/11/2010 Last Reply: 2/3/2012 Helpful Votes: 1 Replies: 24 Views: 37,326

Marked As Answer by Joe.Wu Microsoft Employee, Moderator Thursday, February 18, 2010 9:22 AM

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Gordon 7

905

Thursday, February 11, 2010 9:12 AM

Hi there,

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprogeneral/thread/7710dab8-863a-44d0-... 2/7/2012

Unable to Write/Delete data on External USB disk in Windows 7.

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Sign In to First of all, have you install the following hotfix for USB issue? Most USB issue can be fixed by it. Vote

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976972 if the issue persists after installing the hotfix, pls let me know what the exact error you may encountered when you try to delete/write to the old external USB HDD. Meanwhile, do you have the same issue when you use other USB flash disk or external HDD? Additional, you can also backup your files on the HDD and format it under Windows 7 as a quick fix, do you still have the same issue now?

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ExchangeKida

10

Friday, February 12, 2010 7:04 AM

Thank you for your reply. I have not applied the hotfix yet. I do not get any error while delete/write data to the USB disk. The options to create new folder or delete any file/folder are not available for the data in my External USB Sign In to HDD. Seems like it system is opening it in Read only mode.

Vote

I am not sure if i should apply this hotfix as i am not facing any of the issues mentioned in the kb. Currently i switched over to my old system as i needed to do some work with that data on HDD. In next 2 days i will switch back again to my windows 7 system and check if it has "NVIDIA USB EHCI" controller and will apply the hotfix and update you guys on the staus. Formatting the USB HDD with Windows 7 will be pain as it's a 1 TB HDD and i do not have any other space available to backup that data.

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Gordon 7

905

Friday, February 12, 2010 8:26 AM

Hi,

1
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Regarding the hotfix, I think you can install it directly. The hotfix will replace/update some USB related system files which would be helpful for USB related issues. Actually, I have had this type of issue before and format is a quick fix to me (please remember to formant it under Windows 7). Since you do not have other free space, you can consider copy those data to another PC (of your friends or the PC in your office) Meanwhile, what would happen when you try to save file to this USB HDD? If you receive error message stating "The disk is write-protected. Remove the write-protection or use another disk, please remove write protection from your USB flash drive using the below method: ==================== 1. Open start menu, in the search bar type REGEDIT and press enter. This will open the registry editor. 2. Navigate to the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies Note: If the registry key StorageDevicePolicies does not exist, you will need to create it manually. 3. Highlight StorageDevicePolicies, and then create a New DWORD (32-bit) Value named as WriteProtect. 4. Double click the key WriteProtect in the right window and set the value to 0 in the Value Data Box and press OK button 5. Restart your computer and try copying files into your USB drives. If the issue persists, you may have to run the following command as a fix: ==================== 1.Start > search bar -> CMD and press enter 2.type< diskpart 3.type< list disk 4.type< select disk # (# is the number of the USB HDD youve pluged in) 5.type< attributes disk clear readonly Do you still have the same issue after reboot? Please post your update info if you have make any progress

Marked As Answer by Joe.Wu Microsoft Employee, Moderator Thursday, February 18, 2010 9:22 AM

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Dale Qiao Microsoft

9,155

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 2:28 AM

Addtionally, I would like to suggest you checking the permissions of the disk. If it is read-only, try to take ownership of the disk and edit the permissions to have write/delete privilege.

Sign In to How to take ownership of a file or folder Vote

Edit the permissions: =============

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprogeneral/thread/7710dab8-863a-44d0-... 2/7/2012

Unable to Write/Delete data on External USB disk in Windows 7.

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1) Right click the drive. 2) Hightlight Security tab. 3) Select the current user. 4) Click Edit and check the Allow box of Full control. 5) Click Apply and OK. Best Regards Dale

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ExchangeKida

10

Sunday, February 28, 2010 11:20 AM

Can't edit the security and take ownership as the security tab is not showing on the properties page.

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ExchangeKida

10

Monday, March 01, 2010 7:24 AM

I installed hotfix as per http://support.microsoft.com/kb/976972 , Performed the "StorageDevicePolicies" registry key but problem still exists. Format and Diskpart still needs to be tried. Soon i will arrange for the backup and perform diskpart as Sign In to well. I do not think disk part will help much as when i saw external hdd status in diskpart it does not shows it as read only. Vote

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ExchangeKida

10

Sunday, March 07, 2010 11:32 AM

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Surprizingly I was able to write/delete data 2 days back. It worked fine for hours. I deleted some of the data fine. I shut down the pc and again I am not able to write/delete any data from it. I still can't figure out how it worked and why it is not working now.

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Sintek

Thursday, April 01, 2010 6:18 PM

I had Same issue, tried this and is worked

Sign In to http://www.t3chworks.com/index.php?p=2_1 Vote

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ExchangeKida

10

Thursday, June 17, 2010 1:35 PM

Still No go with it..DiskPart shows it "Read Only: No" both at disk and volume level. As suggested in the article i still tried "ClearReadonly" but no luck.. Any moresuggestions..?

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joe2011

Friday, February 04, 2011 7:24 PM

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I tried many methods on Internet: regedit, diskpart, etc. not work on my HP8GB on Lenovo T410. Co can't get rid of Win7 either. This is for sure a bug.

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LCranmer (Partner)

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprogeneral/thread/7710dab8-863a-44d0-... 2/7/2012

Unable to Write/Delete data on External USB disk in Windows 7.

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Sunday, July 10, 2011 12:14 AM

Thanks for the info. Of all of the processes I tried, this was the only thing that worked and without deleting any of my files. Very simple too.

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LMCfashions@comcast.net

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Patrick Goovaerts

Sunday, July 17, 2011 9:34 AM

Hi,you wrote:

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"Thanks for the info. Of all of the processes I tried, this was the only thing that worked and without deleting any of my files." But you did not mention what you exactly did... Can you explain?

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Rama0

Sunday, August 14, 2011 12:48 PM

hi there,

been there, tried everything..just registered to help you..

Sign In to follow this: Vote

open usb, right click, then Tool, Check now.. that will fix the usb disk next reinsert the disk and format it, but using FAT not FAT32. after you finished that your disk won't be write protected anymore and you also will gave Security tab.. i hope this helps..it did to me.. all the best

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Fenton-o-Fenton

Tuesday, August 30, 2011 12:39 AM

None of this worked I went through all of the motions, creating the director in the registry along with the CMD and everything else. Are there any other alternatives?

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spincraft (Partner)

Tuesday, September 13, 2011 3:52 AM

Thanks for your post. I have a generic USB 8G flash drive that is stuck in write-protect mode in WIN764 bit. It does not format nor can the properties be changed. I have tried several 'fixes' including a usb utility that didn't find the drive. I checked the registry for the StorageDevicePolicies but didn't find it. Sign In to This drive does not format on XP, either.

Vote

I had some success with the diskpart on the CMD line. attributes disk gives the listing and shows the Current read-only state: Yes. There is another attribute called read-only:No Why these attributes do not agree is unknown. However, the attributes disk clear readonly command executes OK and did not clear the current readonly state:Yes. The readonly state changes to Yes with SET and changes to No with clear. Although the commands seem to work OK, the drive write-protection is not cleared. Your suggestions are welcome.

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprogeneral/thread/7710dab8-863a-44d0-... 2/7/2012

Unable to Write/Delete data on External USB disk in Windows 7.

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Erick E

Tuesday, October 25, 2011 10:04 AM

Sign In to 3. type< list disk Vote

1.Start > search bar -> CMD and press enter 2. type< diskpart 4. type< select disk # (# is the number of the USB HDD youve pluged in) 5. type< attributes disk clear readonly Attributes disk clear readonly worked for me, thanks

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spincraft (Partner)

Wednesday, October 26, 2011 2:51 AM

Hi

I have a USB drive that is write-protected.

Sign In to I used this procedure; Vote

If the issue persists, you may have to run the following command as a fix: ==================== 1.Start > search bar -> CMD and press enter 2.type< diskpart 3.type< list disk 4.type< select disk # (# is the number of the USB HDD youve pluged in) 5.type< attributes disk clear readonly

It completed OK and there is no change on the write-protecion for this USB dirve. I suspect it has a hardware failure. Anybody have another idea? Thanks

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siriusql

Tuesday, November 01, 2011 4:38 PM

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I have the same problem. I tried checkdisk, diskpart, usb recovery manager, tried using the cmd... editing the registry... went through all sorts of french / english boards. No Solution. It's useless, it always will stay "write protected" I even tried disregarding the protection using ubuntu and the terminal with several tutorial nothing worked ! this damn key won't get writeable

Edited by siriusql

Tuesday, November 01, 2011 4:48 PM

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RAMABADRAN V

Tuesday, December 27, 2011 10:12 AM

HI I TRIED ALL THE THINGS BUT STILL UNABLE TO REMOVE WRITE PROTECTION IN USB

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Noel D Paton living :) (MCC, Partner)

45,850

Tuesday, December 27, 2011 10:21 AM

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprogeneral/thread/7710dab8-863a-44d0-... 2/7/2012

Unable to Write/Delete data on External USB disk in Windows 7.

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"RAMABADRAN V" wrote in message news:9b08213c-9c35-4237-8c4e-c041fd810389... HI I TRIED ALL THE THINGS BUT STILL UNABLE TO REMOVE WRITE PROTECTION IN USB

Some USB sticks come with a hardware switch for safety check yours.
Noel Paton | Nil Carborundum Illegitemi | CrashFixPC | The Three-toed Sloth

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tsb79

Saturday, December 31, 2011 5:53 AM

Gordon,

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very useful info it help me very much i tried to remove write protection from my friend flash drive for so many days. but the second option running cmd command was help me and no need to restart.you Thank you

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Eagle_Quest

Saturday, January 28, 2012 2:30 PM

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SAME HERE.... this is obviously a WINDOWS7 Problem with USB hard drives.... I have a 2 TB drive.... the person how suggest formatting is NOT a true engineers way to fix this..... it's a idiotic way ..... I have tried everything suggested here and with my own 30+ years of knowledge. NOTING WORKS.... FIX THIS ISSUE MICROSOFT.... Your issue has made ALL MY USB hard drives USELESS .... This issue has been going on now for over a year that I am aware... WHERE IS THE SUPPORT??. .... or are we too busy fixing the problems in win8 and pulling another 98 second edition rip-off?? FIX THIS ON WINDOWS 7. DID IT ALL ... DISKPART, REGISTRY EDITED .... Storage parameters do NOT have USB parms that are obvious, where are they?? I WILL NOT FORMAT JUST BECAUSE MICROSOFT HAS ONCE AGAIN FAILED IN SUPPORT .... AND HAS FAILED TO TRAIN THEIR PAPERED ENGINEERS ! ! ! ! ?? NONE of the moderators, partners OR users solutions here WORK...... they are all a BIG waste of time!!!!! and some lacking knowledge .... and yes... some are partners.... scary ....

Edited by Eagle_Quest

Saturday, January 28, 2012 2:36 PM

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geekphool Retired

Thursday, February 02, 2012 8:32 PM

Hi,

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I don't know if the problem I experienced is in any wayrelated to yours, but I thought that I would share my experience, and perhaps it will help. I use Windows Media Center (WMC) in Windows 7 to record TV programs, and I set WMC to store my files on an external drive. I was watching live TV in WMC when I got the surprising message that my disk had run out of space. I did not think that I was anywhere close to that condition, and in fact I had plenty of room on the drive. I happened to notice in Explorer when I viewed the properties of my Recorded TV folder and its files, that they were all set to the Read-only attribute, and that was strange since I never set my files/folder to Read-only. So I Googled "read only" and found these articles: http://itexpertvoice.com/home/fixing-the-windows-7-read-only-folder-blues/ http://support.microsoft.com/kb/326549 Apparently Microsoft has changed the attributes for security-related reasons during one of their Windows updates. The articles explain that you cannot use the Properties dialog to change a FOLDER

http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/w7itprogeneral/thread/7710dab8-863a-44d0-... 2/7/2012

Unable to Write/Delete data on External USB disk in Windows 7.

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from read only - it has to be done from the DOS prompt. And apparently because my WMC Recorded TV folder was Read-only it thought it was out of space. (Why this would be so I have no idea.) I have unset the Read-only folder attribute, and I am now waiting to see if WMC is happy. Perhaps your issue is related.

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Sopheak Cambodian

Friday, February 03, 2012 5:41 PM

Hey! Try this way! I just find out and it works!

I am using Win. 7 and I had problem with my USD.

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- Right click and choose "Properties" - Find " Sharing" tab - Look for " Advance Sharing" click on it. - Tick " Share this folder" - OK Let me know if it works for you... You should know what Folder Sharing mean when you want to share.

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