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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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USB flash getting write protected
May 27, 2013 4:09AM PDT

Hi there
did you try to get it out of its capsule and warm it up to 200Celsius to refluid the lead to restore the contacts
by a fan or a soldering lamp? could event. help


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Diskpart can remove "Readonly" Atrribute on USB Flash Drive
May 27, 2013 11:28PM PDT

Open an administrator cmd prompt

DISKPART> list

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 139 GB 0 B
Disk 1 Online 74 GB 0 B
Disk 2 Online 298 GB 1024 KB
Disk 3 Online 3839 MB 0 B Flash Drive

DISKPART> select disk 3

Disk 3 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> attributes 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> attributes disk set readonly

Disk attributes set successfully.

DISKPART> attributes disk
Current Read-only State : Yes
Read-only : Yes
Boot Disk : No
Pagefile Disk : No
Hibernation File Disk : No
Crashdump Disk : No
Clustered Disk : No


To clear the read-only attribute for the selected disk, type:
ATTRIBUTES DISK CLEAR READONLY

DISKPART> ATTRIBUTES DISK CLEAR READONLY

Disk attributes cleared successfully.

DISKPART> attributes 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

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Diskpart can remove "Readonly" Atrribute on USB Flash Drive
May 29, 2013 4:14AM PDT

Thank you for the very clear and detailed DOS commands to use with Diskpart. I followed the instructions to a T and got back exactly the same results as you posted. I then tried to paste a file onto the flash but it said that it was dirty and to do a diskchk..... which I did and which once completed confirmed that all was good. I then tried to paste a file onto the flash but this time it said that I needed to format the drive. I tried a format which warned me that all would be erased, I said ok, then it said that it couldn't do the format because the disk was write protected.

Thanks anyway though for your time. Cheers.

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It will change back to R-O as soon as
May 29, 2013 6:12AM PDT

While this works wonderfully for setting off the Read-Only attribute, as soon as you try to put a file into the USB Flash Drive (counterfeit) it will go back to Read-Only state, because it finds errors copying the file, maybe it will prompt you to run a Disk Check (chkdsk).

To test your USB Flash Drive, I found an utility called H2testw, that verifies your USB Flash Drive by copying and verifying data to the full extent of the nominal flash drive capacity. While time consuming, it works great and provides peace of mind when saving important files to USB/Memory sticks.

While you should never store your important files in just one media, there are times when it's not possible to make backup copies right away, so H2testw gives you some kind of reassurance, and also helps protecting your investment.

You can find more information about H2testw on:

http://sosfakeflash.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/h2testw-14-gold-standard-in-detecting-usb-counterfeit-drives/

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It will change back to R-O as soon as
May 30, 2013 3:22AM PDT

Hey there, unfortunately the software couldn't do it's thing because the drive is write protected.

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Just my 2 cents
May 28, 2013 6:19AM PDT

Just sharing my own personal experience on this topic. It may or may not be any use.
I don't know if this is true with current flash drives, but I've dealt with several that suddenly were jammed in write-protect mode due to exceeding a file system limit on the root of the device. I don't remember the exact numbers and it was mainly with FAT32 drives. Using long filenames could reach the limit even faster. I always had to use a computer running Linux to fix it: I was able to remove 1 file and it would write-protect again, unmount, remount, remove 1 file, rinse and repeat until it was stable enough to move stuff into folders.

Another experience was with a fake, hacked flash drive. This was when 8GB was the max on the market. A friend showed me a 32GB Sony Vaio brand (red flag!) he acquired from a cousin who'd gotten it from street vendor in China. (red flag!) The problem was it the file system would suddenly corrupt when approaching 8GB. It didn't take much Googling to find reports from other victims. Apparently the "vendor" in China used a software compression hack on a normal 8GB to trick the os into reading it as 32. When near the end of the 8GB the fs became corrupted and currently stored files were unreadable.

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Old addage
May 29, 2013 6:15AM PDT

Presumably you got a really good price on this thing. Perhaps you got what you paid for. You might opt for one with a warranty next time. (At least you could read it so you could have copied the data to another device if need be). Another lesson: Never have your critical data stored on only one device.

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write protected
May 31, 2013 1:52AM PDT

Someone may have suggested this already, but try plugging it in to all of the computers you have used it on and see if any of them will let you write. That would be the computer that is controlling the device. Then you can remove the write protect. I bought what was advertised as a PNY flash and marked PNY on the drive but I got it from a shipper in China and I suspect a counterfeit as I can't find that drive anywhere on the PNY site. The clasp broke right after I got it and they sent a refund then told me to keep it for my trouble since it still works .I just don't think it was worth it to them to pay for return shipping to China.

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A note of thanks from Norm
May 31, 2013 4:38AM PDT

Just wanted to pass along an e-mail from member, Norm, who wanted to thank all the fellow members who contributed in helping him out. Thank you Norm for following up and thanks to all who contributed!

His email is as follows:

Dear Lee,

This is just a short note to thank you and CNET for the opportunity of sharing my flash drive problem with the CNET Community. At last count, there were 238 posts covering 8 full pages.

Although my drive is still dead, I nonetheless learned a few flash management tricks and certainly appreciated the time and effort put in by some of the folks trying to help me out.

If space permits, please pass on my appreciation to all who participated regarding this issue.

Cheers,
Norm B. (aka "bluesky12102")

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USB Drive
Jun 1, 2013 2:16PM PDT

Hello Norm

I don't know what all was suggested, but I'd suggest trying to use Ubuntu Linux to repartition the drive.

If that fails, try to use a program called "kill disk" and try to erase it that way.

Be very, very, very careful with "kill disk" because it will erase ANY hard drive if you use it improperly.

Good Luck

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USB Drive
Jun 6, 2013 12:12AM PDT

This program called kill disk - does this mean all information will be lost - if not copied elsewhere?

What other methods would you consider - I am not computer literate?

Thank you

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To Norm (flash drive) - what are the main things learned?
Jun 3, 2013 10:28AM PDT

Hi Norm - Thanks for the trouble to write a thank-you to members, but without going into detail what are 2 or 3 of the main things you say you learned from this? My guess would be BACK UP (before it happens - the old story), plus maybe "just chuck it out!" I guess going back to a system restore point wouldn't help in a case like this? Thanks Norm, **** J.

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Help! flash drive suddenly became write-protected
May 31, 2013 11:45AM PDT

This 64 GB problem might be solved by creating a New Folder, then rename to a meaningful name, then write/copy the entire contents of the problematic flash drive into your newly created folder.

Next purchase a "reputable" 64 GB flash drive and transfer the data to it?
\\

Happy Hunting, and thanks for sharing this problem with us.
gl
OR....... have you considered that this could be a hacker getting his/her giggles that has seriously mangled your existing code and altering the FD in such a way that any conventional method of erasing/write protection or has redefined the font/character definition code, etc. This last offering is bordering on the ridiculous but who knows, maybe it will spark a thought from an appropriately knowledgeable compu-dude?

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had similay issue
Jun 14, 2013 1:57PM PDT

I recently had a similar issue. I was trying to reinstall windows xp on a friends netbook using the recovery software as it had a virus but it was far to infected and messed up that it would crash each time I tried to run it. So I was using a 2 gig flash drive and was using a ISO to USB program to try to make a bootable usb flash drive with one of the many copies Windows XP I had. the netbook had no cd drive and even trying to access the recovery partition at boot with like 5 different key combinations I found by goggling was not working. I had the original key for xp so I tried to use the ISO to USB software and that did not work. and in the end somewhere in the process of using the software I thing it almost screwed up the flash drive. it would come up on any computer that it needed to be formatted no big deal as all that was on it was the windows installation files. Found out format was a no go windows could not format it. I had right away thought back to this post and thought that mine had got locked or finally quit after like 7 years of having it. messed around a wile with it and found I had to go in the disk management and create an active partition and some how it got eased and deactivated.

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More Info please
Jun 14, 2013 11:51PM PDT

Would you mind detailing step by step exactly what you did?

Thanks.

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Help! USB flash drive suddenly became write-protected
Jun 16, 2013 3:40AM PDT

Hey Bro have you checked the drve to make sure it does not have a write protect switch that may have been turned on by accident?

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Shoot! PNY 32 GB Flash Drive Died
Jun 16, 2013 4:36AM PDT

Was attempting to set drive to use write-enabled caching, and in Win7 there are two such linked settings; these settings require one always use the "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" in system tray. Reason for doing this was to increase file read/write performance over default setting that has write caching disabled.

With default write settings, one can pull the drive safely without damage to the drive.

Ticking the second option caused the enabling operation to hang, and, unfortunately, only way out was to pull the drive w/o using safely remove. Safely remove would not work due to the hang.

Got all files off the drive using Windows XP, formatted it, and tried to use in Windows 7. It would was not recognized as an USB drive in 7, but XP could see it and, (after two tries), would copy a 500 MB file successfully and also able to delete that file.

Used a Live CD using Drive Washer in XP to wipe the flash drive and tossed it in the can. Noted that the drive name in Drive Washer was blank, unlike before when I attempted to change the default write settings.

Common link here is Win 7 and the FAT32 default file system, and the fact the drive was larger than 16GB? Also noted only other file format option was exFAT, no NTFS format option available in XP.

Tossed it because it was not trustworthy to use anymore. Next time I'll check to see if NTFS is available for use as a file system before I purchase a larger drive.

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Command
Jan 25, 2014 12:29PM PST

Go to Start, type in "command" and a black window will open up.
Type "format X:"
where X is the drive for your flash drive.

It will format the flash drive even though Windows 7 won't.

But you will probably have the same problem occur again with the drive. I reformatted mine 2-3 times and the problem always happened again.

A lot of the stuff from China works and is much less expensive than American -- the flash drives apparently arent.

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Current read-only state: yes/ Write protected
Oct 13, 2014 2:46AM PDT

I had the same issue with the "current read-only state: yes". I was trying to figure out why I was not able to delete photos from my SD memory card when I right click the folder. There was no DELETE listed in the drop down window. I uninstalled the driver for my SD memory card reader and then reinstalled the driver. That fixed my issue. The delete option is now listed in the drop down window, when I right click on the picture folder. After reinstalling the driver, I ran a diskpart. The current read-only state is now no. I have a fairly new computer with the Windows 8 operating system. My guess is when my computer done an update, that's when the my issue started. I remember being able to delete photos from my SD memory cards before, when I first got the computer. Oh well, stuff happens.

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Did you try using DOS commands ?
Oct 30, 2014 7:39PM PDT

such as
attrib
fdisk
and format ?

My best suggestion is not to use the DOS emulation on higher OS
Try to use a naked computer with original DOS (preferable DOS 3.3) .
Wish you luck if you still have the DOK ( 12 month already pass since your post..Happy)

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solutions
Jun 15, 2015 6:09PM PDT