How To Remove Read/Write Protection On A USB Flash Drive by Formatting

[Lutfij]

Often times we come across a couple of our colleagues or friend's USB flash drive that isn't accessible or it simply will not allow you to write any files onto it. This tutorial will show how you can simply remove Read/Write protection on your culprit USB flash drive.

■Open the “Start Menu” by clicking the “Start Button” in the lower left corner of the screen or by tapping the “Windows” key on your keyboard.




■Click on Computer (in Windows 7)



or File Explorer (in Windows 8/8.1/10)




■We will need to determine what the existing file system is on the USB drive so with your USB flash drive populated in an available USB port, right click on USB drive>Properties and take note of the File system.




■Close the window




■Right click on culprit USB flash drive and click on Format




Do note that formatting your USB drive is considered as a last resort and as such if there are any critical data on the USB drive, please back it up on a drive of your choice.

■At the Format window, set the files system as that noted in step 3 leaving file allocation unit size as default or the highest number you can set if the drive is above 1GB in capacity. You can leave the volume label blank for this part but is advised you tag it with a label of your choosing.




■ Click Start to begin




■Click on Close to exit the window.




You should now be able to begin copying data to and from the USB drive.