Ways to Fix Error Current Read Only State Yes

Theodomentis Lucia

Dec 30,2019 • Filed to: Partition Solutions • Proven solutions

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If you’ve just newly bought a USB flash drive, an external hard drive with hefty storage or any other external store device, you might not expect to encounter any problems with it. Unfortunately, most users experience errors not allowing them to make any changes to their device. In this article, we’ll provide you with 4 easy and sure ways to remedy this problem.

Overview

This error usually appears in the prompt Current read only state yes. This may occur in USB flash drives. If you haven’t used external storage device before or aren’t familiar, you might not have any idea what this error suggests. A device in a read-only state is simply unmodifiable. It means you can’t add, delete or change any files (if there any) in that device. It only allows computers to read the files on that device. You may be able to view files and copy them but you can’t alter anything within it.

How to Fix “Current Read Only State Yes” Error

This problem may be frustrating to users because it renders your USB flash drives useless. Here we will tell you how to Fix “Current Read Only State Yes” Error.

Method 1. Check the physical switch

Inspect your external storage device for any physical switch. It should be just a little toggle within the device. The physical switch protects your storage device from being overwritten, accidentally getting deleted or changed. While it’s not very common for manufacturers to include a physical swtich, some device have this feature so make sure to check first before proceeding to the next solutions.

If you’ve made a thorough inspection of your device and found no physical switch, proceed to the next methods. 

Method 2. Open regedit and change the registry key

Windows Registry is a built-in feature in Windows that allows user to manipulate settings for the Windows OS and other applications within the computer. It’s one of the best ways to solve this issue. Here is a complete step-by-step instructions on how to perform this:

1. Plug in your USB flash drive to your Windows PC. Check if your PC detects the drive.
2. Launch Run by pressing Windows key + R on the keyboard or simply looking for it on the Start menu.
3. Type in regedit in the space to launch Registry Editor. Then, hit Enter.
4. Follow this path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

5. Click on the Write Protection icon and a DWORD (32-bit) value window box will pop up. It will ask you for value data. Enter 0. Select OK to change your read-only device settings.

Method 3. Clear read only on USB drive via Diskpart

DiskPart is also a built-in utility tool in Windows computers. It makes use of a command-line to allow users to manage their computer’s drivers, disks, and partitions.

As with any troubleshooting method using commands, it’s important to make sure you’re typing them in correctly. To be sure, you can opt to copy-paste the commands to avoid errors in mistyping. Failure to input the correct device will not fixt the issue and may bring up some errors.

1. Launch Run by pressing Windows key + R on the keyboard or simply looking for it on the Start menu.
2. Type in diskpart in the space and press the Enter key. This will launch DiskPart.
3. In the command line, type the commands below, pressing Enter after each line.

list disk

select disk n

attributes disk

NOTE: n is the name of the drive



4. See if the value in Read-only is Yes. If it is, type in attributes disk clear randomly in the command line and press on Enter. This will disable the read-only setting of your USB flash drive.

Use a third-party software

If all else fails, you can always make use of third-party softwares to fix this error. We highly recommend AOMEI Partition Assistant. It’s a powerful program that you can download for free.

If you’ve decided to use this software to resolve your problem, here is a step-by-step guide on how to use it.

1. Download the installer for AOIMEI Partition Assistant. You can find this on their website. Follow the instructions for installation (it should be easy) and launch the program.
2. Look for the drive of concern, right-click on it and choose Format Partition on the drop-down menu.



3. A pop-up box will appear and will ask you to set the file system. Choose in the list and select OK.



4. This will redirect you to the main interface. Select Apply. A Pending Operations window will appear, click on the Proceed button below.

Other third-party partition softwares you can use are Paragon, Macrorit, and GParted. These softwares are similar to AOMEI. Just go to their website and follow the instructions for installation.

By following the methods above carefully, you’ll be able to change your USB flash drive or any external storage media’s settings. You’ll be able to maximize use of your device in no time.