How to remove Write Protection from Pen drive or SD card?
By dhawanbm
@dhawanbm (3705)
India
December 16, 2011 12:23am CST
How to remove Write Protection from Pen drive or SD card? Well its the most commonly asked question by the net users who tend to use pens and sd cards to transfer data to others and to and fro. But there is no reasonable answer. Even computers dont format such write protected cards and pens. What to do, Any answers guys?
1 response
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
16 Dec 11
Many pen drives (USB memory sticks) and most SD cards have a physical write-protect switch on the side. This simply disables one of the connections inside. To enable or disable write-protection, simply slide the switch to the appropriate position, usually TOWARD the contacts to allow writing and AWAY FROM the contacts to protect against writing.
A micro-SD card has no physical switch. Writing is allowed when one of the contacts is connected and disallowed when it is not. The SD adaptor, which you will probably need when using a micro-SD card on a PC, DOES have a physical switch on the side, just as an SD card has. This simply enables and disables one of the connections to the micro-SD card. If you receive a message that a micro-SD card is write protected, make sure that the adaptor has the write-protect switch slid toward the contacts. If you are NOT using an adaptor, then the device itself (into which you insert the micro-SD card) may have a small write-protect switch close to the card slot, there may be some software control which disables the contact ... or it may be designed not to be able to write to the card at all.
To format ANY of these devices, first look for a write-protect switch and make sure that it is in the correct position for writing (the switch is usually marked with 'LOCK' at one end of the slider: move the switch in the opposite direction). If using a micro-SD card, insert it correctly into the SD adaptor and move the slider on the adaptor.
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
16 Dec 11
Very exceptionally, you may come across a device which has been preloaded with software (perhaps a video or a presentation) and on which the 'write' contact has been PERMANENTLY disabled. Such devices cannot be reformatted and are of no use for anything other than their original intention. If you inspect the contacts, you may well see that one is missing. If it is a USB drive, you will not be able to see, of course, but if there is NO write protect switch and it cannot be formatted, then it's likely to be a 'promotional' item of some kind.
@owlwings (43910)
• Cambridge, England
16 Dec 11
I don't know what particular device you are trying to format. If there is no switch (and sometimes they are quite small and not easily seen) and you can't format it, then it is either permanently locked (sometimes these things are given away as a promotion) or there is a hardware fault which means that there is NO WAY that it will ever be usable again.
Hardware faults on solid state drives can happen very quickly - in an instant, in fact - if the drive is removed whilst it is being written to. This is BY FAR the most common reason for data loss and corruption on a solid state memory device. If the device gives you the message that formatting (or writing to the drive) is not possible or that it is write protected AND you have followed the instructions I gave above, then the drive is worthless and you may as well throw it away.
