Trying Problem — Toshiba HD Disk is Suddenly Write-Protected

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I have been working on a Toshiba Satellite laptop trying to load an image backup onto a BLANK HD, now the HD is Write Protected! So, I’ve been reading this forum extensively attempting to work out this problem. Using win 8.1.

Have tried:
DISKPART
SELECT DISK 0
ATTRIB DISK
ATTRIB DISK CLEAR READONLY

Have also tried this command for the vol and partition. Then I used the command:
CHKDSK C: /F /R /X and disk is still write enabled.

Now, I tried CHKDSK /R and get reponse:
“THE FIRST NTFS BOOT SECTOR IS UNREADABLE OR CORRUPT
READING SECOND NTFS BOOT SECTOR INSTEAD.
UNABLE TO DETERMINE VOLUME VERSION AND STATE. CHKDSK ABORTED”.

Anyone have a clue what’s going on, or what to try next? Many thanks!

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Does the Device Manager show any software-switches for that hard-drive? Reason for asking: in some cases, I’ve heard of external media [and now internal media?] having a software switch to make it write-protected.

"Take care of thy backups and thy restores shall take care of thee." Ben Franklin, revisted

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While you haven’t said which version of Windows you are using and if you have an install disk – not sure if this can also be achieved with a system repair disk, you can run these Bootrec commands to repair/rebuild the Master Boot Record (MBR) to see if that resolves.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-gb/kb/927392

@ Roland – it’s no longer write protected.

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Try this instead. Make sure you don’t do this on your system or data disk!

DISKPART
SELECT DISK 0
CLEAN

Now the disk will be blank and Windows can re-initialize and format it via Disk Manager.

cheers, Paul

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Try this instead. Make sure you don’t do this on your system or data disk!

DISKPART
SELECT DISK 0
CLEAN

Now the disk will be blank and Windows can re-initialize and format it via Disk Manager.

cheers, Paul

I tried that, but I’m still in the same shape. Also do not detect any software switches as Roland mentioned, but that sounds above my head! Thanks!

I’m using (or trying to use) windows 8.1

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If you don’t have a Win 8.1 install disk or USB, you can create either using the MCT from https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows8

You can use the install media to repair the mbr – I assume your machine is UEFI ?

http://windowsreport.com/windows-8-uefi-boot/

Start from below the Reimage bit.

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If you can’t clean the disk it’s a hardware problem. Test the disk on another machine.

cheers, Paul

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If you want to check the condition of the disk without taking it out, you can create a bootable SeaTools for Dos disk that can check out even a new hard disk with nothing installed.

http://knowledge.seagate.com/articles/en_US/FAQ/201271en

Use the bootable CD hyperlink for the download page.

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@Sudo15 – I took your suggestion and created the Seatools for DOS disk, it boots and lets me use DOS commands but the program doesn’t even SEE the hard drive. It just sees the CD drive. Hmmm. I’m starting to wonder if this HD isn’t kaput. I really am hesitant to swap that HD into my other working PC to test it….

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It won’t see the disk because it doesn’t have drivers for you disk controller – probably.
You may need to run the diags under Windows.

BTW, is it a Seagate drive? If not go to the manufacturer’s site and download the correct diags.

cheers, Paul

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I have a SeaTools for DOS disk and while it can see the HDD and controllers on one machine, it reports it cannot see them on another.

You could get an enclosure to put the disk into and then do a chkdsk x: /f to see if it will run – x is the USB drive letter you would use when you plug the enclosure into another machine.

I don’t know how much they cost or if it would be cheaper to take it to a repair shop for them to check it out for you.

However, SeaTools for Windows which is a program you install can check out external drives.

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I have a SeaTools for DOS disk and while it can see the HDD and controllers on one machine, it reports it cannot see them on another.

You could get an enclosure to put the disk into and then do a chkdsk x: /f to see if it will run – x is the USB drive letter you would use when you plug the enclosure into another machine.

I don’t know how much they cost or if it would be cheaper to take it to a repair shop for them to check it out for you.

However, SeaTools for Windows which is a program you install can check out external drives.

Thanks! I now did a “chkdsk m: /f” but got the following response. Does anyone know if the following indicates the HDD is faulty? Or, is there a fix?

“The first NTFS boot sector is unreadable or corrupt.
Reading second NTFS boot sector instead.
Unable to determine volume version or state.
CHKDSK aborted.”

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Go back to my Post #6, create a bootable Win 8.1 install disk or USB then use the other link for how to repair the MBR.

You’ll need to stick it back in its own machine for that and then see if it will boot up.

If it doesn’t then hook it back up to your other machine and download SeaTools for Windows and that can check external drives.

Read the Download instructions – http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/support/downloads/item/seatools-win-master/

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…download SeaTools for Windows and that can check external drives…

I might have misunderstood what has been posted earlier in this thread. If so please correct me.

The OP’s #1 post indicates the problem concerns the HDD from a Toshiba Satellite laptop. In my experience Toshiba laptops most often have Toshiba or Hitachi brand HDDs (I have seen a very few with Western Digital or Seagate drives but in those cases the HDD may have been replaced before I worked on those systems).

I have run SeaTools many times on customers’ Seagate laptop HDDs and Seagate USB HDDs but SeaTools does not work with non-Seagate HDDs (e.g.: Toshiba, Hitachi, Western Digital etc.).

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I might have misunderstood what has been posted earlier in this thread. If so please correct me.

The OP’s #1 post indicates the problem concerns the HDD from a Toshiba Satellite laptop. In my experience Toshiba laptops most often have Toshiba or Hitachi brand HDDs (I have seen a very few with Western Digital or Seagate drives but in those cases the HDD may have been replaced before I worked on those systems).

I have run SeaTools many times on customers’ Seagate laptop HDDs and Seagate USB HDDs but SeaTools does not work with non-Seagate HDDs (e.g.: Toshiba, Hitachi, Western Digital etc.).

While it’s true that SeaTools for Windows cannot fix non-Seagate hard drives, it can still check them with the tests it has.

As a chkdsk x: /f is unable to run, thought that was the next best option to determine if it is beyond repair.

I’ll look into TestDisk as that sounds like a useful tool.

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…I tried CHKDSK /R and get reponse:
“THE FIRST NTFS BOOT SECTOR IS UNREADABLE OR CORRUPT
READING SECOND NTFS BOOT SECTOR INSTEAD.
UNABLE TO DETERMINE VOLUME VERSION AND STATE. CHKDSK ABORTED”…

You could try “TestDisk” from: http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk to rebuild the NTFS Boot Sector.

I haven’t had cause to use TestDisk for about the last couple of years but used it occasionally with good results before that.

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Download the manufacturer’s diags and test the disk. This will tell you if it has gone to god.

cheers, Paul

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Am now able to run “chkdsk c: /r” after reformatting the vol, clearing “readonly” of that vol and it came out ok! So, it’s probably not a bad HD. This has been a real learning experience for me. Now I’ll see if I can load the image…

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Solved. I rebuilt the MBR and was then able to do chkdsk /F /R /X. Cleared the “readonly” on the vol with diskpart. Reformatted the disk and write protection was corrected. Thanks to all!

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