Questions tagged [write-protect]
110 questions
76
votes
5 answers
Why can't we write over a CD/DVD after it's been burned/finalized?
I was wondering why CD/DVD burners can't just overwrite a CD or DVD after it's been finalized and set to read-only mode. I understand that read-only mode prevents further writes, but can't a burner just ignore that and burn over the original data…
Luke
- 801
55
votes
3 answers
What can I do if my USB flash drive is write-protected or read-only?
When I plug in my USB flash drive, it shows up on my computer as write-protected or read-only. I am unable to transfer data to it, nor can I modify or delete any files already stored on it. I also cannot repartition or reformat the drive using…
bwDraco
- 46,683
48
votes
5 answers
Windows PDF viewer that auto-refreshes PDF when compiling with pdflatex
I'm writing a LaTeX document and am using the command line to compile the LaTeX code into a PDF document. In Linux I would just open the PDF with Evince PDF Viewer, and whenever I recompiled the LaTeX code, the PDF would refresh after a couple of…
Eddy
- 3,427
18
votes
7 answers
Cannot format USB flash drive, everything claims it's write protected
I have a 4GB HP USB flash drive that I had written a Chromium OS image to with Win32DiskImager. Now I am trying to reformat it but I can't. Everything tells me the disk is write protected. Being a USB flash drive, there is no write-protect switch. I…
Sega dude
- 298
15
votes
3 answers
How to write protect a USB key?
I'm looking for a solution to write-protect the contents of a USB key. The idea is to prevent its contents from being inadvertently removed by the user or changed by malicious programs -- not to restrict the re-cycling of the key for something…
caas
- 253
15
votes
9 answers
Make a USB drive read only
I have a 1.5TB USB drive with many important files that I want to give to a friend (they have Windows7) for reading only purposes. thumbscrew appears to flip a registry switch but it seems to be on the local pc only.
UPDATE:
Are you aware of any USB…
iKarampa
- 578
13
votes
3 answers
How to make a partition on external storage read-only? And revert to normal?
Sometimes, I have to give my external storage someone else. But, I am worry about files and folders which accidentally deleted, moved, changed etc... Therefore, it is enough that data on the disk can be readable. Writing support not desired.
So,
1)…
mmdemirbas
- 439
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11
votes
1 answer
Make some cells in an Excel sheet password protected?
I have an Excel 2010 file that I do not want to have a password for, but I do want to lock certain cells so that I do not accidentally edit them.
Can certain cells be made read-only without a password?
Mark Vig
- 111
11
votes
5 answers
How can I disable write protection in my USB flash drive?
My USB flash drive is currently unusable because it somehow (quite suddenly!) became write protected. I have googled around and tried many solutions to this problem, but none of them have worked so far. Here are some of the solutions I've…
97847658
- 211
11
votes
2 answers
Cannot remove write protection from USB drive
I am aware that this question has been asked before, but none of the solutions work for me.
I have multiple MicroCenter USB 3.1 32GB flash drives that the issue. Originally, they worked, but as soon as I tried to copy multiple files and folders onto…
Greenreader9
- 241
11
votes
2 answers
Remove the write protection from a USB flash disk
My flash disk encountered an error saying that it has been write protected, so of course I can't even copy files or even format my flash drive.
What happened to my flash drive to cause this?
And is there a way I can I fix this?
RedKing
- 432
9
votes
1 answer
VirtualBox shared folder write permission - Ubuntu 12.04
I'm using the following command to mount my folder in VirtualBox:
sudo \mount -t vboxsf -o rw -o uid=1000 -o gid=1000 Dropbox ~/Dropbox/
However, the folder is read-only. I re-installed Guest additions, and made sure the folder is not set as…
The Quantum Physicist
- 770
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9
votes
6 answers
Can't remove write protection in Windows 7
I have a problem with the write protection of Windows 7. All my files in my users folder are protected and it is impossible to remove. When I uncheck the checkbox, a progressbar runs threw but everything stays unchanged.
I've also tried to change it…
skotschi
- 91
8
votes
1 answer
USB stick mysteriously become write protected
So, somehow over the weekend, my 1GB USB flash drive has managed to become write-protected. There is no switch on the stick, so I'm concluding that something has corrupted at some point. Obviously I can't format it or remove.
The output from dmesg…
MeanwhileInHell
- 353
7
votes
4 answers
How can I deactivate the write-protection in an OpenOffice-document?
I activated document-protection for a document (Open Office on a Macbook, very recent download), and now I can't deactivate it. Though I should be the user who is allowed to read and write, I can't write on it anymore or rename the file. When…
Marijana Batan