<s>
Write	B-Device
protection	I-Device
is	O
any	O
physical	O
mechanism	O
that	O
prevents	O
writing	O
,	O
modifying	O
,	O
or	O
erasing	O
data	O
on	O
a	O
device	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Most	O
commercial	O
software	O
,	O
audio	O
and	O
video	O
on	O
writeable	O
media	O
is	O
write-protected	B-Device
when	O
distributed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Audio	B-Device
cassettes	I-Device
and	O
VHS	O
videocassettes	O
have	O
tabs	O
on	O
the	O
top/rear	O
edge	O
that	O
can	O
be	O
broken	O
off	O
(	O
uncovered	O
=	O
protected	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
8	O
and	O
-inch	O
floppies	B-Device
can	O
have	O
,	O
respectively	O
,	O
write-protect	B-Device
and	O
write-enable	O
notches	O
on	O
the	O
right	O
side	O
(	O
8-inch	O
punched	O
=	O
protected	O
;	O
-inch	O
covered/notch	O
not	O
present	O
=	O
protected	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
common	O
practice	O
with	O
single-sided	O
floppies	B-Device
was	O
to	O
punch	O
a	O
second	O
notch	O
on	O
the	O
opposite	O
side	O
of	O
the	O
disk	O
to	O
enable	O
use	O
of	O
both	O
sides	O
of	O
the	O
media	O
,	O
creating	O
a	O
flippy	O
disk	O
,	O
so	O
called	O
because	O
one	O
originally	O
had	O
to	O
flip	O
the	O
disk	O
over	O
to	O
use	O
the	O
other	O
side	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
-inch	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
have	O
a	O
sliding	O
tab	O
in	O
a	O
window	O
on	O
the	O
right	O
side	O
(	O
open	O
=	O
protected	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Iomega	B-Operating_System
Zip	I-Operating_System
disks	O
were	O
write-protected	B-Device
using	O
the	O
IomegaWare	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Syquest	O
EZ-drive	O
(	O
135	O
&	O
250	O
MB	O
)	O
disks	O
were	O
write-protected	B-Device
using	O
a	O
small	O
metal	O
switch	O
on	O
the	O
rear	O
of	O
the	O
disk	O
at	O
the	O
bottom	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Iomega	B-Device
ditto	I-Device
tape	O
cartridges	O
had	O
a	O
small	O
sliding	O
tab	O
on	O
the	O
top	O
left	O
hand	O
corner	O
on	O
the	O
front	O
face	O
of	O
the	O
cartridge	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
example	O
of	O
a	O
USB	O
flash	O
drive	O
that	O
supported	O
write	B-Device
protection	I-Device
via	O
a	O
switch	O
is	O
the	O
Transcend	O
JetFlash	O
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Secure	B-Device
Digital	I-Device
(	O
SD	O
)	O
cards	O
have	O
a	O
write-protect	B-Device
tab	O
on	O
the	O
left	O
side	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
determined	O
user	O
can	O
easily	O
circumvent	O
them	O
either	O
by	O
covering	O
a	O
notch	O
with	O
adhesive	O
tape	O
or	O
by	O
creating	O
one	O
with	O
a	O
punch	O
as	O
appropriate	O
,	O
or	O
sometimes	O
by	O
physically	O
altering	O
the	O
media	O
transport	O
to	O
ignore	O
the	O
write-protect	B-Device
mechanism	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Write-protection	B-Device
is	O
typically	O
enforced	O
by	O
the	O
hardware	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
case	O
of	O
computer	O
devices	O
,	O
attempting	O
to	O
violate	O
it	O
will	O
return	O
an	O
error	O
to	O
the	O
operating	B-General_Concept
system	I-General_Concept
while	O
some	O
tape	O
recorders	O
physically	O
lock	O
the	O
record	O
button	O
when	O
a	O
write-protected	B-Device
cassette	O
is	O
present	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Write	O
blocking	O
,	O
a	O
subset	O
of	O
write	B-Device
protection	I-Device
,	O
is	O
a	O
technique	O
used	O
in	O
computer	O
forensics	O
in	O
order	O
to	O
maintain	O
the	O
integrity	O
of	O
data	O
storage	O
devices	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
a	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
it	O
can	O
be	O
ensured	O
that	O
the	O
device	O
remains	O
unaltered	O
by	O
data	O
recovery	O
methods	O
.	O
</s>
