Copying files from one of the disk to another disk within Microsoft Guest OS fails "The disk is write-protected"

Products

• VMware vSphere ESXi

Issue/Introduction

diskpart does not report as write protected inside the guest OS 

 "The disk is write-protected"

"Remove the write-protection or use another disk"

 

Cause

This issue can occur due to Microsoft Guest OS updates.

Resolution

Ensure there are no underlying storage issues or disconnects causing the Guest OS to apply write protection to the disk.

Isolation Testing:

1. Create 1 GB VMDKs on both the affected and non-affected VMs.

2. Test copy operations:

   • On the affected VM, copy a small file to the new VMDK (expect failure due to write protection).
   • On the non-affected VM, copy the same file (expect success).

3. Detach VMDKs from their respective VMs and reattach them:

   • Attach the write-protected VMDK (from the affected VM) to the non-affected VM and test copying the file (expect success).
   • Attach the working VMDK (from the non-affected VM) to the affected VM and test copying the file (expect failure).

The test confirms that write protection is applied at the OS level on the affected VM. Next Step: Engage Microsoft Support to help remove the write protection from the Guest OS.