Is there any way to instruct Windows to ignore the “write-only” mechanical switch on SD cards?

I have a bunch of SD cards that do not have the little plastic switch for the read only setting. so Windows thinks it’s write protected or something. The card is not write protected by the software lock present on the SD card standard.

I’m using one with tape over the notch and it’s ugly. Also, the Thinkpad slot drags on the tape all the time so I’m afraid it will might loose in there eventually.

So, is there any way to tell Windows to ignore this lame write-protect feature?

I’m not interested on the SD card itself as it’s irrelevant for the issue at hand. Read this question as being about a 5.25” floppy disk drive instead of an SD card if you wish. I’m pretty sure the Windows settings are the same for both, really.

I’m aware that there are 3 ways to secure an SD card. I’m talking about only the mechanical switch, which is the responsibility of the host to handle.

Answer

Save the following as a .REG file, import it and see if it works:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies]
"WriteProtect"=dword:00000000

if it doesn't, I don't know of any other way to forcibly make your card reader's driver ignore the physical write-protect switch or the card's internal write protection mechanism if one exists (it's an optional part of the spec, and only implemented on some cards).