You can always use a Degausser on it which most assuredly would unlock it, but it may also render it unusable as it wipes ALL Data off of it.
But that should not be a problem, because you cannot use it now ;^)
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You can always use a Degausser on it which most assuredly would unlock it, but it may also render it unusable as it wipes ALL Data off of it.
But that should not be a problem, because you cannot use it now ;^)
Flash memory works on a different principle than disk storage, which stores information as magnetic orientatiion. Instead, it uses electrical charge stored in a floating structure to modify an MOS transistor's conductance. Therefore, a degausser, which creates a varying magnetic field, will not erase one.
So what would be the point then? May as well just smash it with a hammer eh.
So much back and forth in the thread but I skimmed it pretty good and I believe I know what has been tried and what hasn't. Forgive me if I ask you to repeat a solution though.
First, have you gone to the disk management snap-in by right-clicking Computer and choosing Manage then Disk Management? You may just be able to bring the drive back online there by right clicking the partition and clicking Online. Maybe refreshing or formatting from this area will do the trick. It is the first place I would try.
There are several issues that could be causing this problem:
1) I see many people mentioning bad cells or worn out flash. I would consider this the least likely IF the drive is fairly new. Most drives are made in china these days so that is not a big issue.
2) If you are on a network, have used your drive on a networked computer (laptop or desktop) recently or have made changes to your Windows or third party firewall then it could be a policy issue. You can address this problem either in the firewall itself, the registry or using GPEDIT.msc from the run box and disabling the Group Policy that prevents USB access.
Here is some similar reading about group policy and registry settings for USB
A. Manually modify the registry key which is described in following KB article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/823732
B. Using Group Policy as descrbed in following KB article:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555324
** 3) You could have an incorrectly written hex value. You can use a hex editor to resolve this issue but be VERY certain you are changing values on the flash drive and not your main drive or you could cause serious issues. You may want to research and learn a little about hex editors before attempting this. http://360degreenetworking.com/?p=94 <<< This link has a little info about how to use a hex editor and another link to one I like to use. The problem mentioned on this link is not the same as yours but the method for fixing the disc is similar. ** This method is probably the most effective because it uses brute force to configure the drive
I think these are the three strongest solutions to try first then get back to us with an update. Thanks.
Hi Norm,
This might sound strange; however, Windows® OS's can be very finicky, so here's a long shot that has worked for me in the past.
Providing you don't need the data that's on the Flash Drive, try this...
Take the Drive to a friend's computer that's using XP, and try formatting it with the XP system.
This happened to me with similar circumstances about 3 months ago; the XP system seems to format things slightly differently to WIN7 (well that's what I found out), and I was able to format the Flash Drive, and it was totally useable afterwards.
Ensure that you connect the Flash Drive to the XP computer before its booted; allow XP to "Find new Hardware". Once done, Right click on the USB Drive Icon, (from inside 'My Computer') and format it...Hey Presto, XP allowed it to be formatted!
Give this a try (if you haven't already) and let us all know the outcome.
Kind Regards,
Dave T. (chauffeur2)
Have you tried using your USB drive on another computer? If it works on other computers but not your own, then there is a chance that Windows has disabled your USB ports. I just found a free utility that unlocks and locks USB ports. you can get it at http://www.intelliadmin.com. Hope this helps.
Go to HP and download their flash drive format tool. Format the thumb drive and see if that works. It always works for me when a flash drive messes up
Hi, I noticed that no one suggested to test the drive on another XP computer in case Win7 is incompatible or too fussy with with this model of drive.
Now days gadgets are manufactured in a very fast pace and it is not always simple to deal with Firmware bugs. I think that your drive is not a mature product and thus crashed or defective (as mentioned by others). People who used USB drives on smart TVs would probably node their heads - YES our USB drive also crashed with all sort of "errors".
On a positive note, my best advise is to move on. Get a reputable USB drive and back it up because all gadgets can fail. If you decide to buy a heavy hammer to smash this drive, please don't buy it on eBay as it might come from the same manufacturer!
Good luck.
Some viruses also cause to change the 'attribute of folder/file' to 'read only', you may try to check it.
If you have an xbox 360 you can fomat it in there and it should get rid of it that worked for me with my flash drive.
Hmmmm, interesting but no..... I don't have one. Why do you think xbox could fix it if virtually every other tool tried so far can't?
The solution is very simple,
1) Backup all your data on your computer
2) Go to best buy and by a new USB stick
3) Transfer all your data.
Your time is worth more than the $10.00 you will spend on new flash drive.
The time that you would have invested trying to find a solution, sent it with a loved one. Take your parents out to dinner or take your child out and play ball with them.
Your solution is too practical. Don't you like a challenge? Do you really want to let a simple stupid 64G flash drive beat ya without at least giving it a good fight?
My sd cards have all become write protect only, and it was driven my twin brother nuts. Could not add pics or music to them . Here's what I done to solve it . Wait for it , Put it in a mp3 or any device other than a card reader and , wait for it , it now can add or remove files on it . Try it and see if it works for a sd card only . The Dave . E=mc2
I have been successful using Gparted. D/L the iso and burn to a cd/dvd reboot your ps usung Gparted and you are ready.
Could your flash drive possibly be in "READYBOOST" mode and set for 100% of available space?
Hi:
Even though you got the flash drive from ebay. You said that it does not have write protect switch on the body of the drive. Here is something that you might try, if you have not already done so. Plug in the flash drive into a USB port on your computer. Then in windows 7 click the start menu button and click computer. If you have the computer icon on your desktop screen, you can click it, click computer and a window should open that shows you the drives that are on your computer.
Right click on the flash drive and a menu should open, click properties on that menu. The properties dialog box for the flash drive should open. Look under general tab and see if you see a write protect setting. If so, if it is checked, uncheck it and click apply or ok to close the properties box. If you click apply, the properties box will not close until you click the ok button.
Now if you do not see a write protect setting under the general tab, look under all of the other tabs. As somewhere in the properties dialog under one of the tabs, there should be a write protect setting. If so, if it is check, uncheck it and click apply. The thing is that you do not want the write protect setting enabled. After you have disabled the write protect, try accessing and writing to the drive and see what happens.
Now if the write protect is not enabled in the properties dialog box and the drive is still write protected, then the drive could be bad or there is something wrong with it. If my suggestion, does not help, then I don't know what else that you could do or try to solve your problem.
That's it for now. Take care till later.
B4N Joel (aka joetom57)
Thanks but trust me.......... there's no write protect setting for me to play with. I think your right that there may be something wrong with it. Thanks for the input.
Hey there,
Been there, don that........ no joy :-}
Thanks anyway, cheers.
I dug out one of the transcend 8gb flash drives just to try the HP Format Tool. Wont work....just tells me that the drive is write protected ![]()
I hear ya................ the same happened to me........... twice.
Norm, I had the same issue last year. Being an IT, I purchase large, flash drives on sale, for my work. One of them had me locked out, & could not access my data at all. I tried a few things, & finally got inside to see my data was there, but only the names of the programs, no installed files. I knew then I bought a bad drive & had to throw it away. I always back up all my drives so my data was saved. Now I only purchase drives with a good warranty & get my drive replaced. Hope you replace that drive with a better one this time.
Here's what I'd try, besides the mac bit, I'd download Universal USB Installer which is made for setting up flash drives to be able to boot like a cd, you can download any bootable iso like Kaspersky Rescue Disk, and using the installer make your flash drive bootable. Go through the steps and one of the final steps is to format the drive. during the process a cmd type window will come up. I believe this will work. Once your usb stick is made to be bootable it should work. If either my idea or the Mac idea doesn't work, I'm sorry, it appears that for whatever reason your usb flash drive is shot. which makes it so much worse because yours is 64GB I understand why you are so upset. If you aren't able to get it to work, and decide to destroy it. Please put a video on youtube and provide a link. I'm sorry you aren't able to figure out the manufacturer.
Thanks.......... it starting to look like you may be right. I'm not sure I want to youtube the actual smashing. I've already spent way much more time than I ever thought would be needed for this problem. Also, youtube might xxx my video of it due to extreme violence and language I plan on using during the actual event.