If you have forgotten your password to the disk and want to wipe it clean, work around the protection by using your Windows registry. The Windows registry logs all of the protection on disks and can also turn them off for editing and formatting.
1). Restart your computer and hold down the "F8" key. This will take you into Windows "Advanced Boot Options." Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate to the "Safe Mode" option and then press the "Enter" button.
2). Click the "Start" button and then click the "Search" bar on the menu. Type "regedit" into the "Search" box and press the "Enter" button.
3). Follow this path in the registry from the icons on the left side of the window that appears: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies."
4). Click the "WriteProtect" key in the "StorageDevicePolicies" section. Change the value to "0" in the "WriteProtect" key. Click the "OK" button to save this and then restart your computer. Insert your disk into the computer's optical drive or USB port.
5). Select the "Computer" option and then right-click on your now unprotected disk. Click the "Manage" icon in the menu and click the "Disk Management" option in the next menu. Right-click on the unprotected disk and choose the "Format" option. Click the "OK" button and then select the "OK" button again. Wait for the system to prompt you when the formatting process is completed, and close the window to finish.
