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No write access to media

Windows 7 on ThinkPads
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nads1978
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:18 am
Location: UK

No write access to media

#1 Post by nads1978 » Thu Nov 09, 2017 4:59 am

Hi, I'm not sure if this is a Windows or T420 specific issue, so I'm sorry if it is in the wrong section!

My T420 originally ran Win 7 pro 32bit - worked fine for months, then lost ability to write to DVD/SD/memory-stick/external-HDD I always get the message "The disk is write protected".
I recently upgraded to Win 7 Pro 64bit, fresh install with new SSHD, more RAM. All was fine, until a couple of weeks ago. I have now lost "write" ability to any media again (except the internal HDD). I find myself sending files to another machine via Skype/etc to write to the media. Obviously this is frustrating!

All the media works fine on other machines, I bought a new USB (SD) card reader, that is the same situation, read only!
The problem same in both Admin accounts on this machine. No group policies.
I have tried making a registry entry: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies - but no difference.

(image of) Installed software:
https://ibb.co/iBzGsb

tldr; "The disk is write protected" on all media except internal HDD.
Error 404

RealBlackStuff
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Location: Loch Garman, Éire

Re: No write access to media

#2 Post by RealBlackStuff » Thu Nov 09, 2017 8:16 am

To remove the write protection, run CMD as administrator and then run diskpart.
Type these commands (without the -) followed by hit Enter:
- diskpart
- list disk
- select disk {number} [# of your OS-drive, e.g.: select disk 1]
- list volume
- select volume {number} [# of "locked" drive]
- attr disk clear readonly
- attr volume clear readonly [does not always work, that's OK]
- detail disk [to check: Readonly = No]
- detail volume [to check: Readonly = No]
- exit
Repeat for every locked drive.

You may also want to check your registry if it has:
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies
"WriteProtect" :00000001 <<-- 1=protected
If so, change to: 00000000 <<-- 0=NOT protected
Lovely day for a Guinness! (The Real Black Stuff)
Lenovo: X240, X250, T440p, T480, M900 Tiny.

PS: the old Boardroom website is still available on the Wayback Machine
.

nads1978
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:18 am
Location: UK

Re: No write access to media

#3 Post by nads1978 » Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:11 am

Hi, thanks for the reply.

The "diskpart" suggestion didn't do anything for the external (USB) HDD and external (USB) card reader.

I already had the following entry, but was set to "1" (thanks to somewhere else on the internet!):
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies
"WriteProtect" :00000001 <<-- 1=protected
If so, change to: 00000000 <<-- 0=NOT protected
As suggested, I changed to "0" and managed to rectify external (USB) HDD and external (USB) SD card reader :o

The internal card reader is still the same, but I can live with that. Not tested DVD/CD writer yet.

Many thanks :) :D
Error 404

RealBlackStuff
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Posts: 23809
Joined: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:17 am
Location: Loch Garman, Éire

Re: No write access to media

#4 Post by RealBlackStuff » Thu Nov 09, 2017 11:29 am

Here's a possible solution: bad hardware in your internal SD-card reader: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/11414 ... -protected
Scroll down to entry: frr Feb 16, 2007, 6:27 PM

nads1978
Posts: 17
Joined: Mon Jun 23, 2008 11:18 am
Location: UK

Re: No write access to media

#5 Post by nads1978 » Sat Nov 11, 2017 8:56 am

That looks very feasible, I'll live with just the external card reader.
It's always a challenge when a problem lies with 2 separate yet similar faults!
Error 404

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