The site ahead contains malware

It is highly likely that you’ve seen this warning message at least a couple of times while browsing the internet. It should be noted that in most cases it is there for a good reason. Usually, if you see The site ahead contains malware it probably means exactly that – on the other side of the warning message awaits you a potentially harmful site. It should be noted, however, that Google labels even the slightest security hazards as potential malware viruses. Therefore, the site you’re trying to visit might simply contain intrusive ads or might install an adware on your PC (both of which are relatively harmless) and still be treated like a threat from Google. That is all done for security purposes – every piece of software that may do something unwanted to your machine should be approached with care and thus “The site ahead contains malware” warning should be heeded. Besides, the warning is just there to inform you for the possible hazards that lay ahead – it does not stop you from visiting the actual site. It is also possible (and quite easy) to prevent such warning messages from appearing ever again. Here, we will show you how to do that using Google Chrome. However, note that we do not recommend doing that. As we already said – Google hangs out The site ahead contains malware warnings for a reason and should always be taken into account.

The site ahead contains malware message removal/fix

Firstly, open your Google Chrome browser and click on Customize and Control Google Chrome (the icon with three lines in top-right corner of your screen). From the drop-down menu choose Settings.

In the resulting window scroll to the bottom of the page and click on Advanced Settings.

Keep scrolling downwards until you reach a setting labeled Protect you and your device from dangerous site. This setting might also go under different names like Enable phishing and malware protection depending on your version of Chrome. Whatever the case, uncheck the box next to the setting and close the window.

This should be enough to stop those warning messages. Still, keep in mind that doing this is inadvisable and might compromise your online security. Do it only if you have a very good reason to want those warnings removed. Else, you’d better keep that setting enabled.

How to get rid of “The site ahead contains malware” warning from your own website

It is one thing if you see that message on a random site throughout the web, but a whole other thing if you have it added to your own website. First of all, whatever the reason for the warning being displayed, there’s surely something within your site that is not as it should be. It could be a minor problem such as a poorly programmed plug-in or one that doubles as an adware. However, it might also be that your site has been hacked. Whatever the case, you should undoubtedly find a way to fix that problem. That is also where the nasty part begins. Often it is hard to know what exactly is causing google to treat your site as a potential malware distributor. The possibilities are numerous. Still, there are several commonly encountered causes for those warning messages.

• The first and probably most common reason are ads on your site, that are in google’s list of potentially harmful. Therefore, if you ever consider making a deal with a third-party company that will pay you to display their ads on your website, first you may want to make a quick research. Having such potentially harmful ads over your website usually poses no threat to your online security. However, every user that attempts to visit your site will have the warning message displayed to them. This will surely greatly reduce the visitors to your site. That is why if the reason for such a message comes from the ads that are being displayed in your site, you might want to reconsider keeping them there.
• Unfortunately, there are other possible reasons for your site to be considered potentially harmful, which are much harder to deal with. One of the worst scenarios is if your site has been hacked. This can happen in a number of ways. If your host has been infected by a malware, this could as well be the reason for the issue. Furthermore, if you are not hosting your own site, there’s basically nothing you can do about fixing the issue, since it does not come from you. If that’s the case, the only action that you can undertake is inform your host about the problem and hope that they’ll be able to deal with the issue.

Dealing with a hacker attack

A possible reason for the security problem of your site is a potential hacker attack. When dealing with a hacker, that has compromised your site’s security, there are several basics steps that you should do in order to prevent them from further messing with your stuff. Firstly, you’ll surely need to properly clean up your site. Note that even if you’ve found and deleted the plug-in/file/app that is causing the issue, this is probably not going to be enough. That is because in most cases hackers have a backdoor file, that allows them to restore their access into your site. In fact, finding and deleting the backdoor is the first thing that you should do. If you avoid this step, all other effort will be in vain, since the intruder will always be able to come back unless you’ve deleted their backdoor.

Finding the file in question is not an easy task. Hackers are very good at concealing their backdoor files. Therefore, you will need to spend quite some time meticulously searching for it. Here, we can only give you some general information where the most usual locations for a backdoor are. However, note that there’s no guarantee you’ll find the backdoor there.

• Old themes – a usual spot for a backdoor since old themes hardly ever get updated. Therefore the file won’t get removed after an update to a new version of an old theme, that you no longer use.
• Plug-ins – another very common place for hiding a backdoor. There are many reasons for that: users rarely look at their plug-is or upgrade them, many plug-ins are poorly coded, etc. That is why you should avoid getting any low-quality ones and make sure to upgrade those that you have regularly.
• Uploads Directory – if a hacker has access to your site, he can easily upload a backdoor into your uploads directory. This is a very effective method especially with big sites that have hundreds of files uploaded daily. This makes it virtually impossible to keep track of every new file that gets on the site – a perfect opportunity or a hacker to upload a backdoor file. Also, even if you start looking there, it will probably take you very big amounts of time to locate the problematic file. A good idea would be to invest in a monitoring plug-in to do the job for you – this will both save you time and effort.
• wp-config.php – another very common place for hiding a backdoor. Always make sure to check for one there. Note that sometimes hackers might leave more than one back-ups, so even if you’ve already found and removed one, you might want to keep looking, just in case.
• wp-includes – people hardly ever look in that folder. However, this is yet another pretty common place for a backdoor.

 An important note to make here is that even if you know where to look t might be hard to singe out the exact file that is serving as a back-up for the hacker. That’s because the intruders always try to conceal the file so that it looks like a regular WordPress one. Usually the name’s gonna be similar to the name of a legit WordPress file. That is why you should be extra vigilant. Therefore, if you see two files with similar names, it is highly likely that one of them is not supposed to be there. Try to get info on that specific filename so as to see which of the two is the legit one and which is there to make your life miserable.

Removing the “The site ahead contains malware” message from your site

After you’re sure that you’ve removed the backdoor and thoroughly cleaned everything, you’ll still need to have the warning message taken down from your site. Here’s how this is done:

• Firstly, you’ll have to access Google’s Webmaster tool. Note that your site needs to have been added to the webmaster tool. If you haven’t done it, go ahead and do that first, bfore proceeding with the next step.
• Secondly, go to the security issues section of webmaster tool – there you’ll see any security hazards that Google has found on your site. If you’re sure that you’ve dealt with the issues, click on the checkbox to request a review of your site. If everything’s been fixed, the warning message should no longer be displayed after an attempt to enter your site.

 These were some general tips and info on how to deal with the The site ahead contains malware warning message and what might be causing it. Know that these are just the basics for that issue. Lastly, keep in mind that when you are managing a website, it’s always that much easier to keep it safe and secure, than it is having to deal with any sort of security hazards afterwards. If you have any questions or feedback for us, make sure to leave us a comment down below. Thank you for reading!

This guide will have you deal with “Your pc ran into a problem and needs to restart” error, also known as the BSoD. It works for Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.

When faced with a certain error or fault on your computer, it is always fairly unpleasant and often startling. But one particular error beats them all and it’s the notorious “Your pc ran into a problem and needs to restart” or BSoD. There you are, minding your own business, when all of a sudden everything on your screen disappears, interrupting whatever it was you were doing, and you’re staring at a blue screen with lots of white numbers and letters. In newer versions of Windows you’ll be seeing a sad smiley face and the words “Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart”. And then it all goes dark. Please note that these errors generally occur on their own – WIndows 10 (or for that matter Windows 8.1 and Windows 7) is not to blame. But… never say never!

This must have happened at least once to pretty much everyone, so most users out there are familiar with this issue, but not everyone knows what causes this problem and how to deal with it. Well, the truth is that the reasons for the BSOD to appear are numerous and complex, but we have designed this article to cover all the possible major causes to the best of our ability. In addition to this we have included a guide below with very easy to follow steps that will help you determine what exactly triggered the Blue Screen of Death and work from there to find a solution.

• IMPORTANT! Any computer can hiccup from time to time. If you have seen random errors from time to time, then you probably have nothing to worry about. If you start having a lot of errors (more then one per week), then you may have a reason to worry.

Main causes for “Your pc ran into a problem and needs to restart” error

• Conflicting drivers. It’s possible that certain drivers may not be compatible with one another, when for example downloading new ones. In other cases, it might happen that a specific program is actually preventing given drivers from functioning as they should, and this leads to the entire operating system being taken down. It could also be that new hardware that was introduced to your system is conflicting with some drivers and is therefore causing crashes and serious dysfunctions.
• Faulty hardware. This is one of the most common reasons for your screen to turn blue and your computer to crash. It may be a result of certain hardware not being installed properly, or perhaps if this is an external component that is being plugged in – it may be just that the slot is dusty and that is the root of all evil or it could be worse. It could also happen that the respective hardware simply wasn’t plugged in correctly or wasn’t plugged in entirely; this too could have caused the problem. Another possibility for you to be receiving this explanation for your system’s crash could be a faulty component in the new hardware. An easy way to determine whether your hardware is to blame for the BSoD is if you can directly see the correlation between the blue screen and the installation of new hardware. For example, you recently acquired a new webcam and as of then have frequently been encountering this problem. It’s easy to tie the two together and start digging there.
• Overheating. This should hardly come as a surprise, but in case you didn’t know – systematic overheating of your computer or any one of its components is bad for it. When this occurs often, your computer will crash sort of as a self-defense mechanism, to prevent reaching the temperature point of no return. If you have noticed that your computer is prone to overheat for whatever reason, we recommend downloading a temperature monitoring program (for example HWMonitor). Most are free programs, quite widespread and popular with users all over the world, and will help you monitor the temperature of your PC, while you’re working.
• Registry error. Registry errors may occur due to corrupted device drivers or corruption in the registry itself due to some recent software changes (installing or uninstalling a given program). A number of other instances of corruption could be the root of the issue, as well, like RAM corruption, system files corruption as the result of virus infections. A damaged hard disk can also be the cause of a registry error.

As you can see, the reasons and causes for Blue Screen Of Death are extremely varying and you can’t come up with just one solution that will generally fix the whole problem. Apart from shutting your system down and trying to ‘calm’ you because of it (blue has statistically been shown to have a relaxing effect on people), the BSOD is also there to inform you about what exactly is going on. Unfortunately you don’t have much time while the error is up, but you really need to write down the specific error displayed on your screen. Below are some simple instructions that will help you break down what is being shown to you and thus help you figure out what measures you need to take, in order to solve the issue.

Your pc ran into a problem and needs to restart Windows 10 – the Guide:

1. First thing’s first, so in order for you to be able to extract comprehensible information for yourself via the Blue Screen, you will need a program to aid you in this. Download the free software called BlueScreenView. It is also available in several languages, so you will have the possibility of viewing it in the language of your choice.
2. The way it operates is by reading the MiniDump files, which are created by the BSOD itself, before it shuts down your system. Unless your system already does this automatically, you will have to first configure it, so that it saves these MiniDump files during crashes. (Control Panel -> System and Security -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Advanced -> Setup (under Startup and Recovery). Choose Small memory dump from the drop-down menu under Write debugging information.)
3. As there is no installation process for BlueScreenView, simply run the executable (.exe) and it will automatically scan your MiniDump folder and display all the crash details in the crashes information columns. That way you will be able to tell where exactly the cause lies and you will be able to act on it accordingly.

Please note that Blue Screen View will not immediately tell you what is wrong with your machine, but it will provide you with the proper code for the error, so you can do your own searcg. The “Your pc ran into a problem and needs to restart Windows 10” error message just informs you that something went wrong. Locating the proper number of the error is essential in order to address the problem correctly. Below you’ll find the list of commonly occurring BSOD errors. Check if your own error mistake is one of them:

Driver_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Bad Pool Header

0x0000050

Please let us know in the comment section below if this was helpful to you and help resolve your issue!

This guide will have you deal with “Your pc ran into a problem and needs to restart” error, also known as the BSoD. It works for Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.

When faced with a certain error or fault on your computer, it is always fairly unpleasant and often startling. But one particular error beats them all and it’s the notorious “Your pc ran into a problem and needs to restart” or BSoD. There you are, minding your own business, when all of a sudden everything on your screen disappears, interrupting whatever it was you were doing, and you’re staring at a blue screen with lots of white numbers and letters. In newer versions of Windows you’ll be seeing a sad smiley face and the words “Your PC ran into a problem and needs to restart”. And then it all goes dark. Please note that these errors generally occur on their own – WIndows 10 (or for that matter Windows 8.1 and Windows 7) is not to blame. But… never say never!

This must have happened at least once to pretty much everyone, so most users out there are familiar with this issue, but not everyone knows what causes this problem and how to deal with it. Well, the truth is that the reasons for the BSOD to appear are numerous and complex, but we have designed this article to cover all the possible major causes to the best of our ability. In addition to this we have included a guide below with very easy to follow steps that will help you determine what exactly triggered the Blue Screen of Death and work from there to find a solution.

• IMPORTANT! Any computer can hiccup from time to time. If you have seen random errors from time to time, then you probably have nothing to worry about. If you start having a lot of errors (more then one per week), then you may have a reason to worry.

Main causes for “Your pc ran into a problem and needs to restart” error

• Conflicting drivers. It’s possible that certain drivers may not be compatible with one another, when for example downloading new ones. In other cases, it might happen that a specific program is actually preventing given drivers from functioning as they should, and this leads to the entire operating system being taken down. It could also be that new hardware that was introduced to your system is conflicting with some drivers and is therefore causing crashes and serious dysfunctions.
• Faulty hardware. This is one of the most common reasons for your screen to turn blue and your computer to crash. It may be a result of certain hardware not being installed properly, or perhaps if this is an external component that is being plugged in – it may be just that the slot is dusty and that is the root of all evil or it could be worse. It could also happen that the respective hardware simply wasn’t plugged in correctly or wasn’t plugged in entirely; this too could have caused the problem. Another possibility for you to be receiving this explanation for your system’s crash could be a faulty component in the new hardware. An easy way to determine whether your hardware is to blame for the BSoD is if you can directly see the correlation between the blue screen and the installation of new hardware. For example, you recently acquired a new webcam and as of then have frequently been encountering this problem. It’s easy to tie the two together and start digging there.
• Overheating. This should hardly come as a surprise, but in case you didn’t know – systematic overheating of your computer or any one of its components is bad for it. When this occurs often, your computer will crash sort of as a self-defense mechanism, to prevent reaching the temperature point of no return. If you have noticed that your computer is prone to overheat for whatever reason, we recommend downloading a temperature monitoring program (for example HWMonitor). Most are free programs, quite widespread and popular with users all over the world, and will help you monitor the temperature of your PC, while you’re working.
• Registry error. Registry errors may occur due to corrupted device drivers or corruption in the registry itself due to some recent software changes (installing or uninstalling a given program). A number of other instances of corruption could be the root of the issue, as well, like RAM corruption, system files corruption as the result of virus infections. A damaged hard disk can also be the cause of a registry error.

As you can see, the reasons and causes for Blue Screen Of Death are extremely varying and you can’t come up with just one solution that will generally fix the whole problem. Apart from shutting your system down and trying to ‘calm’ you because of it (blue has statistically been shown to have a relaxing effect on people), the BSOD is also there to inform you about what exactly is going on. Unfortunately you don’t have much time while the error is up, but you really need to write down the specific error displayed on your screen. Below are some simple instructions that will help you break down what is being shown to you and thus help you figure out what measures you need to take, in order to solve the issue.

Your pc ran into a problem and needs to restart Windows 10 – the Guide:

1. First thing’s first, so in order for you to be able to extract comprehensible information for yourself via the Blue Screen, you will need a program to aid you in this. Download the free software called BlueScreenView. It is also available in several languages, so you will have the possibility of viewing it in the language of your choice.
2. The way it operates is by reading the MiniDump files, which are created by the BSOD itself, before it shuts down your system. Unless your system already does this automatically, you will have to first configure it, so that it saves these MiniDump files during crashes. (Control Panel -> System and Security -> System -> Advanced System Settings -> Advanced -> Setup (under Startup and Recovery). Choose Small memory dump from the drop-down menu under Write debugging information.)
3. As there is no installation process for BlueScreenView, simply run the executable (.exe) and it will automatically scan your MiniDump folder and display all the crash details in the crashes information columns. That way you will be able to tell where exactly the cause lies and you will be able to act on it accordingly.

Please note that Blue Screen View will not immediately tell you what is wrong with your machine, but it will provide you with the proper code for the error, so you can do your own searcg. The “Your pc ran into a problem and needs to restart Windows 10” error message just informs you that something went wrong. Locating the proper number of the error is essential in order to address the problem correctly. Below you’ll find the list of commonly occurring BSOD errors. Check if your own error mistake is one of them:

Driver_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL

Bad Pool Header

0x0000050

Please let us know in the comment section below if this was helpful to you and help resolve your issue!

How to stop Windows 10 from downloading automatically

In order to make it easier for users to upgrade their current version of Windows OS to Windows 10, Microsoft has made it possible to automatically download Windows automatically. This makes upgrading to Windows 10 that much easier and faster. However, not everyone wants to switch to the newer OS and Microsoft’s effort to shove windows 10 down your throat could be considered extremely annoying by many. If you are such a an user it may be frustrating when you start receiving pop-up messages every now and then, that tell you the update is ready to be installed. In fact, often your current OS might go as far as to automatically download the files necessary for the upgrade. The problem with that is those files take some space on the hard drive and may also cost you money if your internet bandwidth is limited. All in all, for people who are not looking forward to switching to Win 10 finding a way to stop windows 10 from automatically downloading is a must. Considering that Windows is capable of updating to 10 without your permission it is very important to prevent the files required for the update to end up in your HDD. Lets see how to do that.

How to stop Windows 10 from downloading automatically by using a specialized tool

 In our case, we’ve been using GWX Control Panel – a neat, trusty utility that is specifically designed to deal with the automatic downloading of Win 10 upgrade files. It’s easy to obtain and operate. Just download (it’s a free software) and open it.

 Once you have done so, all you need to do is click on Click to Delete Windows 10 Download Folders and on Click to Delete Windows 10 Programs. In my case these are grayed-out, since I don’t have any Win 10 files/folder on my PC.                          

 If you want to prevent any future downloads of Windows 10 upgrade files, you can also use the buttons Click to Prevent ‘Get Windows 10’ App and Click to prevent Windows 10 Upgrades in GWX Control Panel.            

  In most cases, this program should be able to fix any problems concerning unwanted downloads of Win 10 files. If, for whatever reason, you don’t want to or cannot download the utility tool, there are other ways for dealing with the unwanted update downloads.

How to stop Windows 10 from downloading automatically by using a specific Microsoft patch

This method works for Win 7 and 8.1 but not for 8, so keep that in mind. Besides, it is not 100% certain that installing the patch will stop any Win 10 upgrade files downloading onto your PC. Theoretically, this is what it does, but we cannot guarantee it. 

Firstly, you’ll need to download the specific patch (R2: July 2015) for your specific version of Windows from the Microsoft website. Then you must install it, following the instructions from the developer’s site.

Secondly, open your Registry Editor by using the Winkey + R combination. Then type regedit in the search box and hit Enter.  

 In the Registry Editor go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate.        

You may need to create the WindowsUpdate Key. This is done by right-clicking on the Windows folder and then choosing Key from the menu New. Name that new key WindowsUpdate.    

 After that, click on it and create a new 32-bit DWORD named DisableOSUpgrade, giving it value of 1.

How to stop Windows 10 from downloading automatically by disabling automatic updates

This is easier to do compared to our previous suggestion, but remember that it is not advisable to disable your automatic updates, since this may leave your PC vulnerable to online threats. The reason for that is Windows will not only stop downloading any Win 10 upgrade files, but will also cease to look for Win 7 updates, which are essential for your system’s security. Do this, only if you are going to constantly manually check for new updates, that your system may need. In order to disable your automatic updates, you will have to go to your Control Panel.

Open System and Security and click on Turn automatic updating on or off.

From there, you can adjust the updating settings to your liking. We recommend to go for Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them.

That way you will still be notified about the latest updates, but will be able to choose which of them you really need.

And there you have it, three different ways to prevent your OS from downloading any upgrade files for Windows 10. Did we help you solve your problem? Do you have any remarks to make concerning our article? If so, feel free to share in our comment section below.

How to stop Windows 10 from downloading automatically

In order to make it easier for users to upgrade their current version of Windows OS to Windows 10, Microsoft has made it possible to automatically download Windows automatically. This makes upgrading to Windows 10 that much easier and faster. However, not everyone wants to switch to the newer OS and Microsoft’s effort to shove windows 10 down your throat could be considered extremely annoying by many. If you are such a an user it may be frustrating when you start receiving pop-up messages every now and then, that tell you the update is ready to be installed. In fact, often your current OS might go as far as to automatically download the files necessary for the upgrade. The problem with that is those files take some space on the hard drive and may also cost you money if your internet bandwidth is limited. All in all, for people who are not looking forward to switching to Win 10 finding a way to stop windows 10 from automatically downloading is a must. Considering that Windows is capable of updating to 10 without your permission it is very important to prevent the files required for the update to end up in your HDD. Lets see how to do that.

How to stop Windows 10 from downloading automatically by using a specialized tool

 In our case, we’ve been using GWX Control Panel – a neat, trusty utility that is specifically designed to deal with the automatic downloading of Win 10 upgrade files. It’s easy to obtain and operate. Just download (it’s a free software) and open it.

 Once you have done so, all you need to do is click on Click to Delete Windows 10 Download Folders and on Click to Delete Windows 10 Programs. In my case these are grayed-out, since I don’t have any Win 10 files/folder on my PC.                          

 If you want to prevent any future downloads of Windows 10 upgrade files, you can also use the buttons Click to Prevent ‘Get Windows 10’ App and Click to prevent Windows 10 Upgrades in GWX Control Panel.            

  In most cases, this program should be able to fix any problems concerning unwanted downloads of Win 10 files. If, for whatever reason, you don’t want to or cannot download the utility tool, there are other ways for dealing with the unwanted update downloads.

How to stop Windows 10 from downloading automatically by using a specific Microsoft patch

This method works for Win 7 and 8.1 but not for 8, so keep that in mind. Besides, it is not 100% certain that installing the patch will stop any Win 10 upgrade files downloading onto your PC. Theoretically, this is what it does, but we cannot guarantee it. 

Firstly, you’ll need to download the specific patch (R2: July 2015) for your specific version of Windows from the Microsoft website. Then you must install it, following the instructions from the developer’s site.

Secondly, open your Registry Editor by using the Winkey + R combination. Then type regedit in the search box and hit Enter.  

 In the Registry Editor go to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate.        

You may need to create the WindowsUpdate Key. This is done by right-clicking on the Windows folder and then choosing Key from the menu New. Name that new key WindowsUpdate.    

 After that, click on it and create a new 32-bit DWORD named DisableOSUpgrade, giving it value of 1.

How to stop Windows 10 from downloading automatically by disabling automatic updates

This is easier to do compared to our previous suggestion, but remember that it is not advisable to disable your automatic updates, since this may leave your PC vulnerable to online threats. The reason for that is Windows will not only stop downloading any Win 10 upgrade files, but will also cease to look for Win 7 updates, which are essential for your system’s security. Do this, only if you are going to constantly manually check for new updates, that your system may need. In order to disable your automatic updates, you will have to go to your Control Panel.

Open System and Security and click on Turn automatic updating on or off.

From there, you can adjust the updating settings to your liking. We recommend to go for Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them.

That way you will still be notified about the latest updates, but will be able to choose which of them you really need.

And there you have it, three different ways to prevent your OS from downloading any upgrade files for Windows 10. Did we help you solve your problem? Do you have any remarks to make concerning our article? If so, feel free to share in our comment section below.

Unable to write – the disk is write protected error (HDD, USB, SD card)

Sometimes, when trying to format a one of your local disks, a USB storage device or a SD card, you may face a certain error message that reads either Unable to complete format or The disk is write protected. This means that the formatting process cannot be finished until the error is resolved. Sometimes this may even render your storage device unusable due to the unfinished formatting process.

There are several possible reasons why this may be happening. Some of them include:

• You don’t have the Administrator privileges to change/delete/modify any of the files on the storage device, let alone, format it.
• The file system is in a format that Window cannot recognize (for instance – RAW format)
• The file system on the storage device is corrupted.
• The device/drive has sustained physical damage.

In this article, we will give you several possible solutions that you can try so as to resolve the annoying error. Most of the already mentioned possible causes for the disk is write protected error can be fixed. However, if your device has been physically damaged, there’s usually nothing that you can do.

Solution 1: Fix the disk is write protected error by flipping the switch on your Flash memory/SD card adapter.

If you have problem formatting a flash memory device or an SD card due to write protection, it might be that you haven’t switched that protection off. Therefore, take a look at your flash memory and see if there’s a button on it. If there’s one, make sure that it is turned off. In case you’re using a SD card, there should be a little switch on the card’s adapter that, too, needs to be turned off so as to disable the Write Protection. After you do that, try formatting your storage device once again. If this didn’t work, go ahead and try our next suggestions.

Solution 2: Fix the disk is write protected error by disabling Write Protection in Registry

This is yet another possible way to fix the issue, this time using the Registry Editor on your computer. To access the editor, press Winkey + R and in the search field write regedit. Hit Enter and the Registry Editor will open for you.

First thing you need to do here is make a back-up of your registry in case something does not go as planned. To do that, click on File and select Export. Choose a where you want to save the registry back-up and give the file a name. Also, make sure that the Export Range is set to All. After having done that, click on Save.

Now, onto the actual fix: In the Registry Editor navigate the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

• If you don’t have a folder StorageDevicePolicies, create one by right-clicking on the Control folder and selecting Key from the submenu labeled New. Name the new key StorageDevicePolicies.

Now, double-click on the WriteProtect value from the right panel of the StorageDevicePolicies folder.

• If you don’t have that value, create it by right-clicking on the empty space in the right panel and selecting New > DWORD (32-bit) value. Name the it WriteProtect.

Once you open the WriteProtect value, type 0 under Value Data and click on OK to turn off the write protection. If you ever want to turn it back on, change the Value Data to 1.

Now close the Registry Editor and restart your PC. You can now try formatting the storage device and hopefully the error will appear no more.

Solution 3: Fix the disk is write protected error by repairing corrupted or RAW file system using the Command Prompt

Our third suggestion is to use the Command Prompt to access the Diskpart tool.

To open the command prompt go to your start menu and in the search field type cmd. Right-click on the first search result and select Run as Administrator.

Now, in the resulting window type the command diskpart and hit Enter.

• If you receive the following message, then the storage device has probably been physically damaged: DiskPart has encountered an error: The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. See the System Event Log for more information.

Next thing you need to do is type another command: list disk. After you hit Enter, a list of your local disks will be displayed. It should be easy for you to find out what’s the number of the problematic disk by looking at their storage capacity.

After you figure it out, type in yet another command: *select disk {disk number}

Now, to clear any corrupted or RAW attributes use this command in the command prompt: attributes disk clear readonly.

Next thing you need to do is consequently type in the following commands, pressing Enter after each one: clean; *create partition primary

• If you happen to be displayed the following message: No usable free extention could be found. It may be that there is insufficient free space to create a partition at the specified size and offset. Specify different size and offset values or don’t specify either to create the maximum sized partition. It may be that the disk is partitioned using the MBR disk partitioning format and the disk contains either 4 primary partitions, (no more partitions may be created), or 3 primary partitions and one extended partition, (only logical drives may be created) – then try any of the following methods to fix that.

1. Use the commands select partition 1 and active one after the other
2. Use the command clean all (takes time to complete) and them type in create partition primary.

Lastly, format the disk by in Fat32 by using the following command: *format fs=fat32

After you’ve done it all, restart your computer and try formatting your storage device in a format of your choice. If all goes well, you shouldn’t be getting this nagging error ever again.

Unable to write – the disk is write protected error (HDD, USB, SD card)

Sometimes, when trying to format a one of your local disks, a USB storage device or a SD card, you may face a certain error message that reads either Unable to complete format or The disk is write protected. This means that the formatting process cannot be finished until the error is resolved. Sometimes this may even render your storage device unusable due to the unfinished formatting process.

There are several possible reasons why this may be happening. Some of them include:

• You don’t have the Administrator privileges to change/delete/modify any of the files on the storage device, let alone, format it.
• The file system is in a format that Window cannot recognize (for instance – RAW format)
• The file system on the storage device is corrupted.
• The device/drive has sustained physical damage.

In this article, we will give you several possible solutions that you can try so as to resolve the annoying error. Most of the already mentioned possible causes for the disk is write protected error can be fixed. However, if your device has been physically damaged, there’s usually nothing that you can do.

Solution 1: Fix the disk is write protected error by flipping the switch on your Flash memory/SD card adapter.

If you have problem formatting a flash memory device or an SD card due to write protection, it might be that you haven’t switched that protection off. Therefore, take a look at your flash memory and see if there’s a button on it. If there’s one, make sure that it is turned off. In case you’re using a SD card, there should be a little switch on the card’s adapter that, too, needs to be turned off so as to disable the Write Protection. After you do that, try formatting your storage device once again. If this didn’t work, go ahead and try our next suggestions.

Solution 2: Fix the disk is write protected error by disabling Write Protection in Registry

This is yet another possible way to fix the issue, this time using the Registry Editor on your computer. To access the editor, press Winkey + R and in the search field write regedit. Hit Enter and the Registry Editor will open for you.

First thing you need to do here is make a back-up of your registry in case something does not go as planned. To do that, click on File and select Export. Choose a where you want to save the registry back-up and give the file a name. Also, make sure that the Export Range is set to All. After having done that, click on Save.

Now, onto the actual fix: In the Registry Editor navigate the following path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies

• If you don’t have a folder StorageDevicePolicies, create one by right-clicking on the Control folder and selecting Key from the submenu labeled New. Name the new key StorageDevicePolicies.

Now, double-click on the WriteProtect value from the right panel of the StorageDevicePolicies folder.

• If you don’t have that value, create it by right-clicking on the empty space in the right panel and selecting New > DWORD (32-bit) value. Name the it WriteProtect.

Once you open the WriteProtect value, type 0 under Value Data and click on OK to turn off the write protection. If you ever want to turn it back on, change the Value Data to 1.

Now close the Registry Editor and restart your PC. You can now try formatting the storage device and hopefully the error will appear no more.

Solution 3: Fix the disk is write protected error by repairing corrupted or RAW file system using the Command Prompt

Our third suggestion is to use the Command Prompt to access the Diskpart tool.

To open the command prompt go to your start menu and in the search field type cmd. Right-click on the first search result and select Run as Administrator.

Now, in the resulting window type the command diskpart and hit Enter.

• If you receive the following message, then the storage device has probably been physically damaged: DiskPart has encountered an error: The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. See the System Event Log for more information.

Next thing you need to do is type another command: list disk. After you hit Enter, a list of your local disks will be displayed. It should be easy for you to find out what’s the number of the problematic disk by looking at their storage capacity.

After you figure it out, type in yet another command: *select disk {disk number}

Now, to clear any corrupted or RAW attributes use this command in the command prompt: attributes disk clear readonly.

Next thing you need to do is consequently type in the following commands, pressing Enter after each one: clean; *create partition primary

• If you happen to be displayed the following message: No usable free extention could be found. It may be that there is insufficient free space to create a partition at the specified size and offset. Specify different size and offset values or don’t specify either to create the maximum sized partition. It may be that the disk is partitioned using the MBR disk partitioning format and the disk contains either 4 primary partitions, (no more partitions may be created), or 3 primary partitions and one extended partition, (only logical drives may be created) – then try any of the following methods to fix that.

1. Use the commands select partition 1 and active one after the other
2. Use the command clean all (takes time to complete) and them type in create partition primary.

Lastly, format the disk by in Fat32 by using the following command: *format fs=fat32

After you’ve done it all, restart your computer and try formatting your storage device in a format of your choice. If all goes well, you shouldn’t be getting this nagging error ever again.