How to Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Using CMD

by Dukuzumuremyi Onesphore | Feb 14, 2019 | Computer and Electronics, Education-Learning

If your pen drive is write-protected, you may not have the ability to modify files or format your drive due to restrictions associated with permissions and sharing. You can format a write-protected pen drive in Windows using  Command Prompt.

Using Diskpart in Command Prompt (Windows)

Insert your write-protected pen drive into an open USB slot on your Windows computer.

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Click on “Start” and type “cmd.exe” into the search field.

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   Double-click on Command Prompt to launch the program.
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   Type “diskpart,” then press Enter on your keyboard.
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   Type “list disk,” then press Enter.
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   Type “select disk x” — with x being the number of your pen drive as listed in Command Prompt — then press Enter. If unsure which number is associated with your pen drive, refer to the disk size listed. For example, if your pen drive is 2 GB, select the disk number next to the drive with 2 GB specified as the disk size.
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   Type “attributes disk clear readonly,” then press Enter.
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   Type “clean,” then press Enter.
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   Type “create partition primary,” then press Enter.
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   Type “format fs=fat32,” then press Enter. Alternately, you can replace “fat32” with “ntfs” if you plan on only using your pen drive with Windows devices.
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   Type “exit,” then press Enter. Your pen drive will now be formatted, and will no longer be write-protected.