My 64gb Cruiser blade has somehow become write protected and I cannot work out how to unlock it.
Anyone have any ideas?
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Try this one.
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First, check for a physical lock switch on the drive. If there isn’t one, plug it in, open Command Prompt as admin, and run diskpart. Then type list disk, select disk X (replace X with your USB number), and attributes disk clear readonly. If that doesn’t work, the drive might have developed a firmware-level write-protection due to corruption. In that case, backing up what you can and reformatting (right-click then Format) usually fixes it. If it still won’t let you write after that, the drive may be failing.
That’s frustrating! Your Cruzer Blade probably went into “write-protected” mode either because of a software glitch or its internal controller. First, try plugging it into a different USB port or PC, sometimes that’s all it takes. Check if there’s a tiny physical lock switch (though most Cruzer Blades don’t have one).
On Windows, you can open Command Prompt as Admin, type diskpart, then list disk → select disk X → attributes disk clear readonly. If that doesn’t work, try editing the registry at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies and set WriteProtect to 0.
Have you sorted it out? If not, try these solutions:
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Check the physical write-protect switch.
Some USB flash drives or SD card readers have a small sliding switch on the side, usually marked “Lock” or a lock icon. Ensure this switch is in the unlocked position (i.e., not pointing to the Lock side). If the switch is loose, try securing it with tape and reinserting it into the computer to test. Note: Most modern USB flash drives no longer have this physical switch. If your USB flash drive does not have a switch, skip this step. -
Clear the read-only attribute via command prompt.
This is the most effective way to resolve soft write protection caused by system misjudgment or viruses.
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Press Win + S, type cmd, right-click and select “Run as administrator”.
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In the black window, enter the following commands sequentially, pressing Enter after each line:
diskpart
list disk
select disk X (Replace X with your USB flash drive’s actual serial number; carefully check according to capacity to avoid selecting the wrong hard drive)
attributes disk clear readonly
When “Disk attributes have been successfully cleared” is displayed, type exit to exit. Reinsert the USB flash drive to test if it is writable.
Read also: How to Remove Write Protection from an SD Card
