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General discussion

Help! USB flash drive suddenly became write-protected

May 10, 2013 8:45AM PDT
Question:

Help! USB flash drive suddenly became write-protected


I have a 64GB USB flash drive that suddenly went "write-protected" (read only). It has no tiny little switch to unprotect it, but seeing as there really wasn't anything critical to be lost, I decided that a simple reformat would fix it up. Unfortunately, W7 can't format it because it's write-protected. The error message says to undo the write protection before formatting (starting to look like an old "Catch-22" scenario). I bought it on eBay from China and can't identify the manufacturer, so there is no help there.

I scoured the Internet to find what I was sure would be a simple solution. I've tried virtually every suggestion and freeware tool that numerous Google searches have proffered. My drive is still unusable and to my surprise, it turns out that there are quite a lot of us out there getting increasingly frustrated with the same problem. Short of smashing the drive with a hammer, I don't see how else to end this dilemma.

Frankly, you are my last resort. Unless some genius out there has a solution that actually works, I'll definitely resort to using a hammer. If it comes to that, I bet I will even smash it with relish. That's how frustrating this seemingly simple problem has become for me.

Anyhow, thanks in advance for any help you can hook me up with.

-- Submitted by: Norm B.

Discussion is locked

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Apple and PC
May 10, 2013 12:38PM PDT

I had this problem when I used an external drive on an Apple and a PC. Turned out that the Mac formatted the drive in such a way that the PC considered it write-only. I had to reformat it differently on the Mac before it became machine interchangeable.

This might be your issue.

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(NT) Rare but true!
May 11, 2013 4:54AM PDT
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Flash Drive
May 25, 2013 4:28AM PDT

What a fuss over nothing. Nobody sensibly puts data on a flash drive without a copy of that data elsewhere. The drive has become write protected so th edata can still be read. If, stupidly, it wasn't backed up than back it up. Either way, dump the drive and buy another one, they are not expensive.

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What is the purpose of a flash drive?
May 25, 2013 4:39AM PDT

Please think about it - generally, the idea of a flash drive is to either transport files or to backup data - and the reading of stored data is fairly bullet-proof. The issue here is one of Write access, not Read.

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What a fuss over nothing.
May 26, 2013 4:21AM PDT

Sorry that this problem has apparently upset you. I'm a big believer in 'waste not, want not'. I'll dump it (smash actually), only after I've given it my best shot to fix it. I'm no computer whiz however over time I've solved many seemingly impossible computer glitches with simple Google searches and a little research.

It's amazing how many times the solution turns out to be a simple little thing. I really thought that fixing this flash drive was going to be a piece of cake. As I said in my initial post, coming here was my last resort. If a simple solution is not possible then so be it. At least I'll know that I tried and won't feel as bad wasting the hardware when I smash it with my hammer. It's not the money, it's the principle. Cheers!

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Get a new flash drive
May 26, 2013 4:30AM PDT

If a car tire wears out, you replace it. Flash drives are generally cheaper than tires. Get a new one, you're not going to fix the one you can't write to. If you did somehow manage to write to it, you'd just be sorry in the end. You can buy 32 GB flash drives for under $15 and 64 GB ones for under $30. Spending $200 worth of effort on a $30 problem you can't fix is... well you get my drift.
`
Good luck.

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Get a new flash drive
May 26, 2013 5:37AM PDT

If a tire gets a flat do you replace it or repair it? How can you say this drive is worn out? I've only had it a couple of months. I'm just trying to see if there is an easy fix before smashing it....... get my drift?

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There are so many ...
May 26, 2013 12:06PM PDT

... who have too much disposable income and have no regard for such things. These people don't understand that because something stops functioning properly *BECAUSE OF A WINDOWS ERROR* you don't particularly feel like going out and blowing $$ to replace something which should be working just fine. And this is definitely a Windows F***-up. Windows has somehow marked the thing as writeprotected and that setting follows to any machine you insert it into as it is a property somewhere in the drive. Thumb drives don't just suddenly decide to write protect themselves and if the flash memory had somehow maxed its number of writes per block you'd get an insuffient space error, not write protected.

As far as people's comments regarding manufacturer's and purchasing "off-brand" items, those who actually manufacture the memory modules are relatively few. What changes are the materials used in packing the memory and possibly the quality of the mounting of the chips if that isn't also done by the mfg. From what I have observed, getting such from someone like Corsair rather than the Chinese knock-off shop gets you a better casing and someone to call if it goes bad.

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Sorry BUT you are WRONG!
May 27, 2013 2:33AM PDT

tumbweed_biff wrote that:
Thumb drives don't just suddenly decide to write protect themselves and if the flash memory had somehow maxed its number of writes per block you'd get an insuffient space error, not write protected.

I have to tell you tumbweed and anyone else reading this, that info you are spreading here is wrong!
A flash drive which has used up its write cycles or just gone plain old bad early (before its time) does NOT continue to work with less remaining writing area, nor does the computer give you any different error!
As many others have replied to your previous such claims on this thread, what happens is the internal firmware of the flash device simple goes into a lock mode to prevent any future damage to the existing data, is that clear enough?

So, a worn, whether because of old age or because of poor quality flash drive goes into lock mode and can no longer be written to by any computer no matter what computer or software is tried. It's as simple as that.
No special errors are detected by any OS, the drive can just simply no longer be written to, Understand now?
Thanks and I hope this helps future readers also understand this simple but apparently not well known fact also.

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I believe ...
May 29, 2013 10:41AM PDT

... I mentioned this issue twice - at least as best as I can recall, maybe three. The first time I stated that I SUSPECTED that this would be the error and I asked for anyone who new better to comment. I do apologize that I stated it as fact here. I have never seen it happen (I believe I also made this clear) and I expected that it would be the same as one sees with a HDD or SSD as memory blocks there fail for one reason or another. And you don't have to repeat something over and over for me to understand.

You don't have to repeat something over and over for me to understand.

You don't have to repeat something over and over for me to understand.

(Should I say it again?) You might want to consider date and time stamps of various messages before going off on a rant about what other people have said in response to something I said previously ...

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Interesting suggestion...
May 17, 2013 9:55AM PDT

I had the same problem as the original poster. Nothing worked, and I spent 3 full days trying to repartition, reformat, modifying the registry & every freeware formatter known to man.

I even tried the low level formatter from the SD Card Org (it also failed).
https://www.sdcard.org/consumers/formatter/

What I *DIDN'T* think of was taking it to a mates MAC and formatting it there. I'll keep this in mind next time it happens.

Regards, Greg.

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try this
May 10, 2013 1:45PM PDT

get a program that will test the drive. verify that it is 64g - my buck says it isnt !
same as SD chips for cameras etc. 4 meg - relabeled as 32g - inside header is tweaked
to appear as 32g - but if you put in more that its base capacity it locks you out just like this
or no access at all, not even format capable.
china - used to be - a decent place to get electronics at reasonable prices - but the last 8 - 10
years - mostly illegally modified - con job - even when its sold in the states ! I got another
sd card from an outfit that I CHECKED ! good review, based in L.A. - same thing. But - the
guy in LA was shocked - refunded my money and a week later I received an email that he
sent to all who had purchased from him telling them to check their cards and if not the right
size he would refund the money - good business man - but feel sorry for him to have been screwed.
these little bits of heaven can be a total mess when the header gets messed up. and unless someone
has a program that can re-tweek them to maybe the size they are supposed to be - just trash.
when you put more that the max it is made to hold and the header has been modified it just
starts over at the begining and continues to save - over writing what ever was on there.

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Fake drives
May 24, 2013 10:12PM PDT

I had the same problem. Bought a 32 gig flash drive from China that turned out to be 2 gigs. There was an entire website created that was dedicated to exposing this one particular scammer on ebay. I ran the software recommended and it told me that the drive was actually a 2 gig. I don't know if this would cause a read only message or not but can see where it might.

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How to avoid danger of fraud ...
May 25, 2013 4:42AM PDT

... when buying a Chinese direct sale ... purchase through eBay using PayPal or credit card. If it turns out to not be as advertised, your money will be returned.

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I hope you saved the receipt
May 10, 2013 11:03PM PDT

It sounds like your flash drive has a bad cell. As others have said, if you have a machine with Linux you may be able to reformat it, but you will run in to the same problem again. Flash drives are one of those things that you really have to choose name brand over generic if you want something that will last.

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Write protected folder - USB Flask Disk (read only) messages
May 11, 2013 12:09AM PDT

My 2GB External USB Flash Disk is write protected and comes up with the error that I can not paste documents and transfer documents or folders from it as it is write protected.

I have tried to look at options of how to change the property off. I am only new to computers and tried investigating to no avail on various mediums.

I do not know how it became that property.

I do not want to lose the information from the disk and have tried the various methods that I could from the internet.

I am not that confident when it comes to computers.

I have a Sony VAIO Y Series VPCYB16KG - Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit.

These are the various methods that am trying. If someone can please assist me, that would be great. I know that I am not alone.

Not confident in Windows Registry and DOS.

Has to be step by step if possible.

https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=7A797BF1CB645296!285
https://skydrive.live.com/redir?resid=7A797BF1CB645296!960

Thank you

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Try it on a Mac
May 17, 2013 9:45AM PDT

Funny things can happen going back and forth. I rescued an external hard drive this way. It was a Seagate brand drive formatted to go back and forth between Mac and PC (but that may be irrelevant here). The important part is that Macs have the "Get Info" function on the top line and that, when opened, gives you an option to change it from read only to read and write.

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Not an answer, but a question.....
May 17, 2013 10:01AM PDT

If I had a flash drive that I wanted to write protect, what would I have to do to make it write protected??

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USB drive write protected
May 24, 2013 2:34PM PDT

The Usb Socket & connector may have contact problem. Pl make sure about them.

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dq
May 24, 2013 2:54PM PDT

forget it.

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How to write protect ..
May 25, 2013 4:48AM PDT

... your flash drive.

Two basic methods:
First, some drives have a write protect switch - a physical switch on the flash drive which will make it so data cannot be written.

The other way would be using Windows to remove rights to the drive. Example, go into the properties on the drive and go to the security section, and remove all rights except Read or Read/Execute for everyone. You will then not be able to write to the drive while being able to read from it all day long.

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A Couple of Ideas
May 17, 2013 10:06AM PDT

A free program called "Partition Find and Mount" can probably resolve your problem. It is able to do a lot of things with flash drives.

If it can't help you, get a copy of Linux Mint. Put it in your optical drive and run it as a "Live CD". The Linux program is loaded to your computer's RAM, and will let you not only see what's on your flash drive, it will let you copy your files onto the hard drive of your computer. Then if you still want to, it will allow you to format your flash drive to NTFS and maybe to Fat 32. If you format it to NTFS, there's another free tool that will for sure allow you to format it as FAT32. It's "HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool".

Good luck to you!

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Re: A Couple of Ideas - New!
May 18, 2013 4:19AM PDT

I had previously seen suggestions to use Linux but
disregarded them as I didn't want to install a different OS on my PC. Your
suggestion however was very attractive in that it provided an option to simply
run Linux from my optical drive (I never knew this was even possible) Anyhow,
long story short, I booted up Linux Mint with no problem. Unfortunately though,
it was no help. I don't know if this will mean anything to you however here
is the text of the error message I got when trying to open the flash drive: <div>Unable to mount 67 GB Volume



Error mounting /dev/sdb at /media/mint/C2E3-B4E6:
Command-lione 'mount -t "exfat" -o "ungekoer = udisks2. nodev,
nosuid" "/dev/sdb" "media/mint/C2E3-B4E6" exited with
non-zero exit status 32: Mount: unknown filesystem type 'exfat' </div>
BTW the drive is supposed to be 64GB so I don't know why Linux refered to it as be 67GB.

Anyhow, thanks for the suggestion, it was definitely worth a try.

Cheers!

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Re: A couple Ideas - New!
May 24, 2013 10:47AM PDT

The message is telling you that Mint can not open the Microsoft proprietary file system type exfat. AKA not supported by that version of Mint.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.5 and later can create, read, write, verify, and repair exFAT file systems.

This is your best option to deal with this MS only filesystem you have on the flash drive.

On a side note: a 64GB drive is actually 68GB in size(2 to the 36th power).

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flash drive write protected
May 24, 2013 11:04AM PDT

I had this problem..was told it was caused by windows xp ..protecting the flash drive. I had to copy the files from the flash drive..throw the flash drive away..copied them to a new flash drive..did not use it on windows xp again.

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flash drive write protected
May 26, 2013 5:39AM PDT

I'm using W7. How is your comment helpful to me?

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exFAT
May 25, 2013 5:19AM PDT

Hello,
you could follow the following article's steps to make Linux so it can deal with exFAT:

http://www.techlw.com/2012/09/how-to-mount-exfat-file-system-on.html

(In case the page disappears:
Installation of ExFat process, open Terminal and enter commands:

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:relan/exfat
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install fuse fuse-exfat exfat-utils

Once installed, plug your exFAT external hard drive (flash drive) in and run the following command to mount it:

sudo mkdir /media/exfat
sudo mount -t exfat /dev/sdb1 /media/exfat

If you want to unmount the drive, simply type the usual command below:

sudo umount /media/exfat - )

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exFAT
May 26, 2013 6:48AM PDT

Thanks but I've already done the whole Linux-Mint thing. Unfortunately there was no joy in the end. Cheers.

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Replace it.
May 17, 2013 10:11AM PDT

That windows can't tell you the mfg is because it can't read the flash drive, and that's the first clue that its defective. This even happens to external and internal drives. Second clue is that the drive "write protected" it's self. It's not the mechanics of the drive as there are none. It's the memory in the drive that has a glitch.
I totaly agree that you should buy a brand name, (I use Kensington) or at least one from a company that's well known, so that you can contact the mfg for help. I know ther'ye more expensive, but by the time you pay for 2-3 cheap flash drives that quit working, you will have spent more in money and frustration. Not to mention that I haven't found any electronic's from China that isn't pretty much junk.
I know this probably isn't the answer you were looking for but it's the honest one.

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Branded Drive
May 17, 2013 3:50PM PDT

When I had this problem, it happened to a branded drive (SanDisk).
Have you actually SEEN the problem yourself (and solved it) ?