Question: How do I format a protected Kingston USB drive?

"Recently, my Kingston USB flash drive becomes inaccessible and asks for formatting. But when I attempt to format the disk, an error message pops up saying the disk is write protected and Windows was unable to complete the format. So how can I remove write protection from Kingston USB drive? Are there any third-party Kingston write protected USB format tools that can help me?"

"How to solve the USB write-protected issue?"

There are typically two ways to tell if a digital device is currently write-protected. Sometimes, you might hear another term called read-only, which essentially means the same thing when you try to modify or save data on it.

Firstly, when you attempt to format a removable disk, like a USB drive, SD card, or external hard drive, Windows displays an error message saying "The disk is write-protected."

Disk is write protected

Second, without any specific warning, you might find your drive to be write-protected, as you can open it but can't modify the data inside.

Write protection can occur and prevent you from accessing your USB to delete, add, copy, or modify files. To be able to use your device or format the drive without issues, you need to use a write protection removal tool to unlock it on Windows 10/8/7.

Here, you can directly download a USB Write Protection Removal tool to automatically clear the locked status, or try the manual method using CMD and Regedit. Lastly, grab a free download of the best USB formatting tool provided by a software utility and apply it immediately to format your write-protected USB drive.

Auto Repair - Download USB Write Protection Removal Software

This tutorial is for: average computer users who are not familiar with the Windows command prompt; to be able to unprotect the drive easily and quickly, without errors.

With AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, you can easily remove write protection from USB, external hard drive, or SD card with just a few clicks. Here's how:

Step 1: Download and install Partition Master, launch it, and click “Write Protection” in the toolbox.

Click on «Remove Write Protection»: Click on Remove Write Protection

Step 2. Select your read-only USB, external hard drive, or SD card, and click “Eject.”

Click on «Remove Write Protection»: Click on Remove Write Protection

Manual #1 - How to Remove USB Write Protection Using CMD

Applies to: Advanced computer users with good knowledge of the cmd; Windows 10/8/7 administrators

The CMD command prompt in Windows DOS is one of the ways to fix and resolve write protection issues with memory cards or flash drives. As a write protected USB formatting tool, it can help you format a Kingston USB in a few simple steps and remove the write protection.

Step 1: Press "Windows + R," then type cmd.

Step 2: Type diskpart.

Step 3: Type list volume.

Step 4: Type select volume # (where # is the number of your USB drive).

Step 5: Type attributes disk clear read-only.

Here's another manual way to remove USB write protection. Share this article to let more users know about the manual method.

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Manual #2 - How to Remove USB Write Protection Using the Registry Editor

Who this is for: Advanced computer users, especially those still on older versions of Windows like XP and Vista.

Step 1: Click the "Start" button, and type regedit into the search box. When you see it at the top of the list, click "regedit.exe" to open the Registry Editor.

Step 2: Then navigate to the following key: Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

Step 3: Double-click the "Write Protect" value in the right pane of Regedit.exe. Change the "Value data" from 1 to 0, then click "OK" to save the changes. Close the Registry Editor and restart your computer.

Next up, just translate this sentence into American English: "Remove Write Protection with Regedit

How to Format a USB Drive with the Write Protection USB Formatting Tool

After fully removing the write protection using either the Diskpart command or Regedit method, you can easily format your Kingston storage device with the Kingston formatting tool to format it as a new device.

A tool called Partition Master can assist you with this. It's a reliable partition tool in the market that helps you manage disk partitions by formatting, deleting, creating, and more. You can also use it as a write-protected USB formatter to get your Kingston USB flash drive working normally again.

Step 1. Launch tools Partition Master, right-click on the partition of the external hard drive/USB/SD card that you want to format, and then choose the "Format" option.

Next up, we just need the translation into American English for the sentence: "Format External Hard Drive/USB/SD Card - 1".

Step 2: Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT) and cluster size for the selected partition, then click “OK”.

Next up, the sentence only needs to be translated into American English: Format External Hard Drive/USB/SD Card - 2

Step 3: In the warning window, click Yes to proceed.

Format External Hard Drive/USB/SD Card - 3

Step 4. Hit the 'Run 1 Task' button on the top-left corner to preview the changes and click on 'Apply' to start formatting the external hard drive/USB/SD card.

Format External Hard Drive/USB/SD Card - 4

If you'd also like to learn how to format a USB flash drive from the command prompt, check out this video.