DiskMgr

DiskMgr has been developed primarily for use in a Windows Forensic Environment (WinFE) to provide a user friendly method of changing the following DISK attributes -

• Offline
• Online
• Read-Only
• Read-Write

DiskMgr is similar in use to Colin Ramsden's "Write Protect" application (see here). DiskMgr is available in native Windows 32-bit and 64-bit versions.

The Microsoft DiskPart application has historically been used in WinPE to manipulate DISK attributes. Unfortunately, if WinFE registry settings have been applied, then DiskPart may fail to change certain DISK attributes, as displayed in the textbox below (output is from DiskPart version 6.1.7601) -
DISKPART> attribute disk Current Read-only State : No Read-only : No Boot Disk : No Pagefile Disk : No Hibernation File Disk : No Crashdump Disk : No Clustered Disk : No DISKPART> attribute disk set readonly DiskPart failed to set disk attributes.

DiskMgr utilises the Microsoft API to set/change DISK attributes. The program has a very simple User Interface with an information panel displaying a list of DISKS and some basic information (including attributes) -

Right-clicking in the information window will display context sensitive options, including Show Disk/Part Informations -

Sample output from the Show Disk/Part Informations option -

Underneath the information panel is a row of buttons for changing attributes -

And below is a brief summary of these options -

• Offline - change the target DISK attribute to Offline. This option will dismount any volumes on the target DISK.

• Online - change the target DISK attribute to Online. This option will automatically mount any volumes on the target DISK - even if the NoAutoMount registry setting has been applied.

• Read-Only - set the target DISK attribute to Read-Only, write protecting the disk and any volumes on it. If the disk is Online when this setting is applied, then DiskMgr will temporarily Offline the disk before applying the changes.

• Read-Write - set the target DISK attribute to Read-Write, removing any write protection from the disk and any volumes on it. If the disk is Online when this setting is applied, then DiskMgr will temporarily Offline the disk before applying the changes.

Pressing any of the buttons will display a prompt before committing any changes. Below is a sample output from selecting the Read-Write option -

And below is the prompt displayed when selecting the Online option -

DiskMgr has been developed by Erwan.L. At the time of writing Erwan has not added the program to his own site, however he has kindly given consent for it to be distributed with MistyPE/Mini-WinFE. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Erwan for spending his valuable time developing this program - thank you my friend.

Erwan's website - http://erwan.labalec.fr/