“Cannot Write to Disk” Error On Windows

Issue

You do not see an option to create a new folder or file or if you try to copy something on a drive, you get “cannot write to disk”.  This can happen to one, few, or all drives.

I confirmed that the disk status was NOT set to “read only” or permissions issue.

Fix using Local Group Policy Editor:

There is a local group policy causing this, so we must make sure that it is not enabled.

1. Open Run – type in MMC. Add/Remove Snap in. Select Group Policy Object Editor – group policy Object – select “Local Computer”.
2. Local Computer Policy – Computer Configuration – Administrative Templates – Windows Components – BitLocker Drive Encryption – Removable Data Drives.
3. Set “Deny write access to removable drives not protected by BitLocker” to “Not Configured”.

Fix Using Registry

1. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
2. Right click the Control (folder) key, select New, and click on Key. Name the new key StorageDevicePolicies.
3. Select the newly created key, and right click on the white space at the right-hand pane. Select New and click on DWORD (32-bit) Value.
4. Name the new DWORD WriteProtect.
5. Change the value to 0.
6. Restart the server.