How to Format a Write Protected or Virus Infected Drive

Flash-pen drives are also vulnerable when it comes to virus infections and formatting a write protected one can be a problem. So today you can fix all these problems by following this basic tutorial.

1. Press Windows key + to open run window, type in CMD and click OK to open command prompt.

Format a Write Protected or Virus Infected Drive 1

2. After command prompt is open, enter the following command: format f: /fs:ntfs /x   (f: being the drive letter assigned to your USB and ntfs is the type format, you can select fat32 also but is slower and less reliable) and then press Enter.

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3. That’s it, you can check and try your fresh formatted usb drive on your computer.

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Also try the following:

1. Press Windows key + to open run window, type in regedit and click OK to open the registry.

2. Navigate to the path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SYSTEM -> CurrentControlSet -> Control -> StorageDevicePolicies

If the registry key StorageDevicePolicies does not exist, you will need to create it manually.

3. Highlight StorageDevicePolicies, and then create a New DWORD (32-bit) Value named as WriteProtect.

4. Double click the key WriteProtect in the right window and set the value to 0 in the Value Data Box and press OK button

5. Restart your computer and you should be fine.

Miguel

I started this tech blog back in 2011 as a place to write down processes I took to fix my client systems and network. Now I write some tips and tricks to help others with the tech issues that one might encounter.

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