Removing write-protection on bootable flash drive

[SleepyzzJohn]

I used an .iso to make my Kingston DT bootable, but in doing so it also made it write-protected. I used it satisfactorily in that state for several months, but when I wanted to reformat it with a new .iso, unfortunately all my attempts to do this failed.

I more or less wrote that Kingston off as an unfortunate hardware failure, and made a new NX216 8GB stick bootable with my next .iso. Again it worked OK until I came to the point where I wanted to change to a new .iso. Reformatting failed on this one too, which is when I realised my previous Kingston failure must be due to a similar symptom.

Neither my Kingston nor my NX216 have usable partitions and attempts to write a new MBR fail which I guess is because they are being thwarted by write protection. Have tried low-level formatting from command prompt, and regedit change to set StorageDevicePolicies to "0".

Any other suggestions?

 

[Roger Dahl]

With 4 broken ones, maybe it's possible to find some statistical correlations. Could you list the brand names, models, purchase year, storage size, usage scenario (frequency of write and read operations, filesystems used, applications used) and which hosts and operating systems the flash drives were used with for both the ones that have become write protected and any others you own?

 

[Trigg3rHippie]

What worked for me:
1. Device manager > Disk drives > properties of the borked USB disk > policies > change to "better performance"

2. Computer management > assign drive letter, format and done!

I hope this helps.

The drive is SanDisk Cruzer 16GB.

Edit:

It actually reverted to the original read only state after formatting it again to exFAT fs. Did it again (simple volume in computer management, format to FAT32) and now formatted again to exFAT fs but this time it wasn't the quick format. Did some read/write operations with the drive and it appears to be working fine.

I'll post again if something changes.

 

[SleepyzzJohn]

What worked for me:
1. Device manager > Disk drives > properties of the borked USB disk > policies > change to "better performance"

2. Computer management > assign drive letter, format and done!

I hope this helps.

The drive is SanDisk Cruzer 16GB.

Edit:

It actually reverted to the original read only state after formatting it again to exFAT fs. Did it again (simple volume in computer management, format to FAT32) and now formatted again to exFAT fs but this time it wasn't the quick format. Did some read/write operations with the drive and it appears to be working fine.

I'll post again if something changes.

Thanks Trigg3rHippie. That looks like an interesting new alternative to try. Just to clarify, is that on a Windows platform? If so which one were you using? I have to ask because I usually work in Linux Ubuntu so I'm not too familiar with Windows, but I could get access and give it a try if I knew which version it is.

 

[Trigg3rHippie]

What worked for me:
1. Device manager > Disk drives > properties of the borked USB disk > policies > change to "better performance"

2. Computer management > assign drive letter, format and done!

I hope this helps.

The drive is SanDisk Cruzer 16GB.

Edit:

It actually reverted to the original read only state after formatting it again to exFAT fs. Did it again (simple volume in computer management, format to FAT32) and now formatted again to exFAT fs but this time it wasn't the quick format. Did some read/write operations with the drive and it appears to be working fine.

I'll post again if something changes.

Thanks Trigg3rHippie. That looks like an interesting new alternative to try. Just to clarify, is that on a Windows platform? If so which one were you using? I have to ask because I usually work in Linux Ubuntu so I'm not too familiar with Windows, but I could get access and give it a try if I knew which version it is.

Yes, I'm running Windows 7 Pro x64 (6.1.7601 SP 1)

 

[opayq64]

I know this is an old post, but I have to reply if anyone has ever the same issue.
i just had the same problem and almost lost my shit.

*DATA IS NOT RECOVERABLE AFTER USING THIS PROGRAM!!1!1!!*
But I found the 'HDD Low Level Format Tool' by HDD Guru and it worked!
(it's free - the link is a bit hidden just below the 'WARNING: After running bla bla bla')
Saved my darn USB drive...

Hope it helps for you too!

 

[SleepyzzJohn]

I know this is an old post, but I have to reply if anyone has ever the same issue.
i just had the same problem and almost lost my shit.!

Thanks for resurrecting this old thread, opayq64. You can see I originally started it in 2013, and I've had 4 flashdirives go down on me in different ways, out of which I've successfully recovered just one, while the other three are still languishing in a "pending" drawer hoping for some new solution.

You may see that back in Dec 2013 I previously posted I'd tried HDD Low Level formatting without success. However I thought I'd try it again now at your suggestion. Sadly I'm still getting much the same unsuccessful results.on my three dud drives. Each one reacts slightly differently to the others.

My Blu Kingston-8GB DT101 II: Windows recognises this flash and says it needs formatting, but is unable to complete the task.
HDD Low Level Format Too 4.40. takes about 10 mins & eventually shows completion. Green progress bar becomes yellow and it tells me to remember to create new partitions. When I try it again with Windows, it says it's still write-protected. DISKPART also says it's write-protected

My Red 8GB 7651MB NX216 Windows also recognises this flash and says it needs formatting, but is also unable to complete the task. Tells me the volume does not contain a recognised file system.
Similarly HDD Low Level Format Tool 4.40. takes about 10 mins & eventually shows completion. Green progress bar becomes yellow. But no improvement. Windows still says it needs to format the disc, but is unable to complete the task. On my Linux, this flash is completely unrecognisable.

My Purple Kingston 32GB On Windows its old file system is still showing as intact and I can even create a new folder and temporarily put a file in it. The new folder I created was actually saved but the file wasn't. Properties shows 1.64GB used. Windows recommends "Scan and Fix" but says its write protected when I try to do that.
Unable to to get HDD Low Level Format Tool to work on this one at all because it doesn't even appear as a drive choice. Eventually starts to create havoc with Windows causing applications and the whole OS to hang. On my Linux, this flash is recognised and I can open old saved files in it, but it's all read-only. Unlike in Windows it can be unmounted and ejected normally.

Hope it helps for you too

Although it hasn't fixed anything for me, perhaps it will trigger some new thoughts here on this old thread.

 

[wingmanjzx]

Here is the solution worked for me, please refer to this link https://superuser.com/questions/752874/16-gb-usb-flash-drive-capacity-down-to-938-mb

The way described there works if you are ok to lose the data on the flash drive, I copy the specific answer here just for convenience.

==============================================================
I managed to do it with diskpart. What I was missing is the command to create a new partition. So here is a run-down of all the commands I used, step by step.

Beware that when typing select disk 1 (step 4), your disk number may be different. Selecting the incorrect disk may result in significant data loss.

I assume you know how to get to the Run prompt since you have arrived at SU. But if not, just press and hold down the Windows key on your keyboard. While still holding the Windows key, press the R key. Voilà! La Run prompt! L'invite de commande!

1. cmd
2. diskpart
3. list disk
4. select disk 1
5. list partition
6. clean
7. list partition
8. create partition primary
9. list partition
10. format fs=fat32 quick
11. list partition
12. exit
=======================================================