Active Directory Rights Management Services (AD RMS) is a server role in Windows Active Directory, which aims to do just that. AD RMS has its own set of tools to help organizations work with security technologies and manage the rights on an organization’s intellectual property.
Sometimes you may receive a message saying that the Disk is write-protected when dealing with external storage devices. This may mean the registry entry is corrupt, your system administrator has placed limitations or the device itself is corrupt. It may also mean the storage device is actually write-protected. This post will show you how to remove the remove the Write Protection on a Disk in Windows 10/8/7.
Remove the Write Protection on a Disk
The following tutorial aims to help you remove the Write Protection on a Disk in Windows 10/8/7. The exact message would be:
The disk is write-protected. Remove the write-protection or use another disk
Is There A Hardware Lock
Some external devices such as pen drives carry a hardware lock in the form of switch. You need to see if the device has a switch and if it is pushed to protect the device from accidental writing. Remove the device from computer and if the switch is in on state, push it back to disable write protection.
If the device switch is off and you still get the message or if there is no hardware lock on the device, confirm with your system administrator to see if he has blocked USB ports. If the USB port is not blocked by the admin, let us check the Windows registry to see if it has been changed to lock the USB ports.
Editing The Registry
To check if the registry key is modified by some reason,
Press Windows Key + R
In the Run dialog box that appears, type regedit. Press Enter
You can now see Registry Editor. Expand the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
Expand System Folder in the left pane under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
Look for CurrentControlSet and expand it to locate Services
When you expand Services, click on USBSTOR
In the right pane, double click on Start. In the box that appears, enter 3.
Close Registry Editor.
After changing the registry value, try to save anything to the external drive that is giving you the problem. If you are still receiving the message, the problem may be with the device. Try attaching another external storage device and see if it works. The next section explains how to troubleshoot the message: Disk Is Write Protected – assuming the problem lies with the device
Boot into Safe Mode and Format the Device
You will not be able to format the device if you try to do it after booting into Windows normally. You will receive the same message saying a device is write-protected. To counter this:
Reboot Windows.
As soon as the computer turns on again, press F8.
You will see a menu with Boot Into Safe Mode as an option.
Select that option using arrow keys and press Enter.
When Windows boots and finally gives you the desktop, open Run dialog (Win Key + R)
Type CMD in the Run dialog to get a black DOS Window
In the black window, type format followed by the drive letter of the removable storage. For example, if the problem drive is F, type format f:
Be aware that typing format will remove the contents of the storage device. Make sure you are using this option at the point where all you want is to be able to use the device again. Also, make sure you know the drive letter as entering a wrong drive letter will totally erase the data of the related drive.
After the format, try to save anything to the disk. If you are able to save, the problem is fixed. If not, and if you wish, you can proceed with the next troubleshooting step at your own risk.
Destructive Write Testing
Destructive write tests often solve the problem when the file tables of external storage devices are corrupt. Though you will be able to access the device in most cases, the chances that you will find old data on those devices are slim. Almost all destructive write tests destroy the file allocation table completely and create a new one. You may also need to format the disk before you can store any data on it – after the testing.
There are some good third party software that help you achieve this. I would recommend HD Tune. The free version is enough to get you your disk back working. However, do not expect to recover old data. You may try data recovery tools after the destructive write testing, but as said earlier, chances would be slim.
You might want also to read, The Disk Is Write-Protected for Removable Disks. This post talks about modifying another registry key and how to use the command prompt to remove the Write Protection.
This explains how to remove the message saying Disk is write-protected. If you need further guidance, please leave a comment mentioning the type of disk and operating system you are using.
Check this post if you need to Write protect USB flash drives in Windows.
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The Instruction Set Evolves
MICHAEL L. SCHMIT, in Pentium™ Processor, 1995
PROTECTED MODE
Protected mode basically works like this: When the CPU starts, it is in real mode. The operating system or other control program sets up a descriptor table that consists of a list of code and data segments, their addresses and other attributes. The CPU is then put into protected mode. The operating system is supposed to control what memory a program can use so that one program cannot clobber the memory allocated to another program. When a program needs more memory, it is requested via the operating system. The operating system keeps track of what program owns what memory. Any communication between programs is controlled via the operating system.
Since protected mode is primarily an operating-system function, and the details of most protected mode operation are handled via operating-system calls, we will deal with it primarily in Chapter 18.