How to Format a Write–Protected Pen Drive Using CMD

by | Feb 14, 2019 | Computer and Electronics, Education-Learning | 7 comments

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)

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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.

7 Comments

  1. Béatrice Mujawimana
    Béatrice Mujawimana on 2019-02-14 at 20:48

    Penuel, I heard so many people saying like you. You can’t imagine how many Drives ended up in the garbage just because of lack of information.

  2. Béatrice Mujawimana
    Béatrice Mujawimana on 2019-02-14 at 20:42

    Hi Onesphore, Thanks for sharing with us, your post came on time.
    You are giving clear instructions and easy to follow.

    • Dukuzumuremyi Onesphore
      Dukuzumuremyi Onesphore on 2019-02-18 at 16:28

      Hi Beatrice, Thanks. for sure we ready to post different helpful contents in order to help our site visitors!!! much more contents are coming!!!

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