Lexar 16GB unsolicited write-protection/corruption

[Ihavenousername]

I have a Lexar 16GB USB 2.0 drive; when I insert it (windows) it says that the disk in I: must be formatted. However, when I do, it always says "The format could not be completed." I have tried all file formats (FAT32, exFAT), with default allocation size. I have noticed on Disk Management that the file type is RAW, and says that the primary partition is healthy. I cannot access any files on it, I have tried chkdsk on cmd, I've tried creating a DWORD (32-bit) called StorageDevicePolicies, adding WriteProtect and setting it to 0, and it still does not work. Thank you for reading!

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey there.

If it's write protected you could also try removing it by via CMD, check the method 2 from this tutorial: http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Write-Protection.

You should also try the flash drive with a different computer/device to see if the same thing happens. I assume you don't need the files from it if you've tried to format it a few times, so I'd also recommend that you try its manufacturer's formatting tool (most manufacturers offer such tools for their memory cards and flash drives).

Unfortunately, if nothing seems to work, the flash drive might have failed. 🙁

Hope that helps. Please let me know how it goes.
Boogieman_WD

 

[Ihavenousername]

Hey there.

If it's write protected you could also try removing it by via CMD, check the method 2 from this tutorial: http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Write-Protection.

You should also try the flash drive with a different computer/device to see if the same thing happens. I assume you don't need the files from it if you've tried to format it a few times, so I'd also recommend that you try its manufacturer's formatting tool (most manufacturers offer such tools for their memory cards and flash drives).

Unfortunately, if nothing seems to work, the flash drive might have failed. 🙁

Hope that helps. Please let me know how it goes.
Boogieman_WD

I have tried using Lexar's USB fixer, but it could not detect the USB (probably because the file system is RAW), and I have tried using a 3rd party USB fixer on the link, but it does not detect it either. The only conclusion I can come as to how it broke is that I set the USB to be cached on the system, and I did not use the 'Safely remove hardware and eject media', causing it to get corrupted. I have had the USB drive for about three years, so this is normal occurrence I guess. I will just combine my 8GB + 4GB + 1GB + 1GB + 512MB USBs to get 14 1/2 GB. Thank you for trying to help!

 

[Ihavenousername]

Hey there.

If it's write protected you could also try removing it by via CMD, check the method 2 from this tutorial: http://www.wikihow.com/Disable-Write-Protection.

You should also try the flash drive with a different computer/device to see if the same thing happens. I assume you don't need the files from it if you've tried to format it a few times, so I'd also recommend that you try its manufacturer's formatting tool (most manufacturers offer such tools for their memory cards and flash drives).

Unfortunately, if nothing seems to work, the flash drive might have failed. 🙁

Hope that helps. Please let me know how it goes.
Boogieman_WD

I dissected the USB (since I am no longer using it), and I broke it. In other words, the bus was reeeaallllyyy hard to break! I had to put a lot of force to split it in half!

https://postimg.org/gallery/33jf3yi48/f8c5f11b/ (pictures of the broken Lexar USB)

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Ejecting external storage devices before physically disconnecting them is really important even if it seems like it's a bit pointless. This could really corrupt the partition and/or the file system.
On the other hand it's weird that if this is the only issue, you won't be able to format it. Perhaps the flash drive has failed which might be the reason for you to be having those issues.

You could still try one other thing - low level format.
1. Open CMD as admin
2. Type diskpart and press enter
3. Type list disk and press enter
4. Type select disk X and press enter. Here "X" is the number of the drive you wish to select, so don't forget to change it with the correct one. Make sure that you've selected the flash drive, as this process is data destructive and it would be a shame to delete all the data you have on another drive. You should be able to recognize which one is the flash drive by its size.
5. Once you receive the message "disk X is now selected" or something similar, type clean and press enter.

Once the process is completed go back to Disk Management and try to reformat it again.

edit: I had the thread opened and didn't realize you have already broken it and this is now useless.

 

[Ihavenousername]

Ejecting external storage devices before physically disconnecting them is really important even if it seems like it's a bit pointless. This could really corrupt the partition and/or the file system.
On the other hand it's weird that if this is the only issue, you won't be able to format it. Perhaps the flash drive has failed which might be the reason for you to be having those issues.

You could still try one other thing - low level format.
1. Open CMD as admin
2. Type diskpart and press enter
3. Type list disk and press enter
4. Type select disk X and press enter. Here "X" is the number of the drive you wish to select, so don't forget to change it with the correct one. Make sure that you've selected the flash drive, as this process is data destructive and it would be a shame to delete all the data you have on another drive. You should be able to recognize which one is the flash drive by its size.
5. Once you receive the message "disk X is now selected" or something similar, type clean and press enter.

Once the process is completed go back to Disk Management and try to reformat it again.

edit: I had the thread opened and didn't realize you have already broken it and this is now useless.

It's okay, I already tried that a while ago.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

I see