How to disable write-protection for SD-Card ?

Hello. I am trying to perform a firmware update for my DSLR camera, and so have to copy some files in the root directory of my SD Card. I usually transfer the files from my camera to my PC by plugging the usb cable and using the camera brand's software utility so thisis the first time I am trying to actually copy something ON the card by using my laptop's sd-card reader slot.

Upon trying to copy the file, I get a "The disk is write protected. Remove the write-protection or use another disk".

I can confirm having tried the following without any success:

1. Checked the physical switch on the SD memory card to be in the correct position

2. Performed a diskpart from the cmd-line as administrator with the following operations:

DISKPART> select disk 5

Disk 5 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> list partition

Partition ### Type Size Offset
------------- ---------------- ------- -------
Partition 1 Primary 29 GB 4096 KB

DISKPART> attributes disk clear readonly

Disk attributes cleared successfully.

DISKPART> select partition 1

Partition 1 is now the selected partition.

DISKPART> attributes volume clear readonly

Virtual Disk Service error:
The operation is not supported on removable media.

DISKPART> detail disk

SDHC Card
Disk ID: 00000000
Type : SCSI
Status : Online
Path : 0
Target : 0
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : UNAVAILABLE
Current Read-only State : Yes
Read-only : No
Boot Disk : No
Pagefile Disk : No
Hibernation File Disk : No
Crashdump Disk : No
Clustered Disk : No

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
* Volume 4 F NIKON D500 FAT32 Removable 29 GB Healthy

DISKPART> exit


3. Added a 32-bit D-WORD value key named WriteProtect to the windows registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\ with value 0

After performing these steps I am still denied permission to write to the SD Card. Can anybody please help me, I feel like I am going insane with this operating system, this being one of the innumerable list of problems I am continuously having with Win10 since I first installed it two years ago. Sometimes I feel like I should uninstall it...

I should mention the the SD-Card in question is functioning perfectly and when inserted into my camera it writes the pictures without any issue.

Thank you.

Hi Traian
Does your card have physical protection?




How to Remove Write Protection from SD Card

Try this tool:
SD Memory Card Formatter

Yes. It has. And it is in the up (unprotected) position. I wrote this in my post. It is one of the 3 things I already checked.

Grom0X said:

Hi Traian
Does your card have physical protection?




How to Remove Write Protection from SD Card

It is not a USB stick. It is a memory card. A 32 GB Sandisk Extreme Pro, to be more exactly. All the test I've ran on it, show it as healthy and error-free. Moreover, no corruption appears when I introduce it in the camera. And yes, after introducing it back into the camera, I canshoot normaly up to filling the whole card, and the pictures are written on it without any issue. I can then transfer them to a computer and I can confirm thaty pictures transfered from the camera, stored on said SD card are ok.

EdTittel said:

When USB media shows as locked and read-only when it isn't really either physical locked or the user set it to read-only, this often reflects a situation where the media has become corrupted and the controller forces that setting (locked, read-only) to protect the existing contents from further damage.

Unless you can find a low-level format utility that restores the device to unlocked & read/write enabled capability, you will most likely have to replace the device with a new one. I had this happen to me on a USB 2 Patriot 8GB device, and nothing I tried or did would restore it to normal working condition.
HTH,
--Ed--

PS: if you do decide to take the low-level format route, be sure to back up the contents before using such a tool. Once reformatted at a low level, it's nearly impossible to recover the prior contents stored on such a device.

You wrote that it's a SD memory card, but it's a flash disk device as a USB stick. And the SD slot is probably a USB drive.
Windows 1809 has some bugs related to USB devices.
What version is your Win 10?
Did you try on another computer with without Win 10?

Yes. I have tried the card on my old Windows XP desktop computer, and I can read and write on the SD-Card withou any issues on it. It is something embeded deep in the windows 10 , I think. Unfortunately I don't have a SD-card reader (external) to plug into a USB port and try with that. Didn't buy one because I have the sd-card slot on my laptop. Yes, it may be a usb device inside of the laptop. Don't know.

Megahertz said:

You wrote that it's a SD memory card, but it's a flash disk device as a USB stick. And the SD slot is probably a USB drive.
Windows 1809 has some bugs related to USB devices.
What version is your Win 10?
Did you try on another computer with without Win 10?