Can I keep an HDD write protected - till I say so ?

[Alan_B]

I used Windows Disk Management to put my Secondary HDD "Offline" and this gives me "Read Access Only".

 

Will it remain write protected when :-

I erase my SSD and restore a partition image backup of System C:\ in an earlier state when WIndows used to write to this HDD; or

I boot into Linux.

 

My hope is that when the HDD was put off-line the HDD internal controller was placed into read-only mode,

and when a previous image of Windows, or a Live Linux Boot DVD is booted up,

the HDD internal controller will remain in read-only mode until Windows (or Linux etc.) issues an "Online" command that cancels read-only.

 

My fears are that :-

 

The "offline" status is a flag somewhere in the first track of the HDD (e.g. in the MBR ),

and that Linux or a badly behaved BIOS might disregard it; or

 

The "Offline" status is private knowledge that Windows keeps in the registry,

and that an earlier version of Windows has no such knowledge,

and will start writing over the RAW and "Unallocated space" Data I have yet to recover and full validate.

 

Regards

Alan

[login123]

Can you just unplug it? I did that to hide SATA drives from each other, one was win xp & one was win 7.

Just a thought.

But I wasn't able to hide anything from some of the Linuxes.

[Alan_B]

Thanks - but that is a last resort because :-

 

1.

I had been using partition E:\ on this 600 GB WDC HDD for the purposes of Pagefile.Sys, %TEMP%, and my Palemoon Browser Downloads Folder.

Windows threw a Hissy Fit at me when it no longer had a Pagefile.sys after it killed E:\ by changing this HDD from GPT to MBR.

I have now added partition E:\ in what was unallocated space on a 960 GB Samsung HDD for the benefit of Palemoon Downloads,

and Windows has chosen to recreate an 8 GB Pagefile.sys on this new partition on Samsung.

 

N.B. I do not know why Windows now says the WDC HDD is MBR instead of GPT - perhaps a mistake in the registry which it refuses to correct

 

To ensure removal of some stuff that I regret installing I am intending to restore Windows to a previous state

but unfortunately that state knows of the WDC as containing partition E:\.

When I restore that previous state I need to ensure write protection of WDC - if need be by electrically disconnecting WDC,

in which case there may be another Hissy Fit until it accepts that Samsung holds a new partition and I am allowed to assign the letter E:\.

 

If I disconnect the WDC then I have lost a useful resource,

and immediately I reconnect and Boot up I may discover that the Restored State of Windows will remember its old friend,

and finding a change of partitions may make brand new partition letter assignments to all partitions (other than C:\ remaining allocated to the booted O.S.),

and I fear that this Restored State of Windows will plant a new PageFile.sys on-top of the RAW DATA that I may be UNABLE to recover for another 2 or 3 months.

 

2.

About 15 years ago support technicians were happy to replace processors in Zero Insertion Force sockets after an extraction tool malfunctioned in my hands and they had to fix things.

Since then I focussed exclusively upon software design and debug of real-time computers.

This Desktop was built by my son and thus far I am only familiar with where to vacuum the dust.

If I was 20 years younger I would be happy to identify which is the WDC HDD,

and remove and at a later date correctly reconnect its data and power cables.

 

Regards

Alan

[login123]

. . . This Desktop was built by my son and thus far I am only familiar with where to vacuum the dust. . . .

I know that feeling all too well.

 

Anyway, back when I was grinding thru that dual boot project, I found it expedient to unplug the win 7 HDD while updating win xp on the other one. Saved having to tell the BIOS which hd to reboot every time. SATA drives are easy to unplug, don't know about SSDs. Thought it might work for you.

 

I bet somebody on here knows a quick easy way to do what you need. Soooo, I'm out of the way, but still watching. :-)