Write-protected USB drive

Try the solution given below; for me, it's the only one that worked (and I've tried everything except the bootable XP CD solution).
"cleger Dec 4, 2009 at 09:09
For the same problem, I tried all the manipulations from this forum and others, even US ones, under DOS, Linux, etc., without any results. Last idea before the trash, I went to the manufacturer's website, TRANSCEND, entered the key type TS8GJFV85, and arrived at the URL http://www.transcend.nl/Products/online_recovery_2.asp?dw=1. There, I downloaded the Jetflash online recovery, launched it, clicked Repair drive & Erase, Start, and yay, it's good, my key is indeed empty but it’s working again.... Like new! 20€ saved. I hope this can be useful to some of you."

Hello everyone !!

I have a solution that I would call toooooo stupid lol

I found it by chance while formatting a PC that didn't have a CD drive with my USB flash drive (Windows XP Home Edition)... anyway

With a bootable XP CD, you insert your USB flash drive and make sure that the USB ports are enabled from the BIOS, then you boot with the XP installation CD. At the partition step, it will show you the partition of the USB flash drive that you will delete, and you will create it again while leaving the same disk space (in MB).
After that, you format it using quick format FAT32. And that's it.

Good luck to all, and if you have any questions, here's my email: amenophis-1@hotmail.fr

I finally found the solution! It’s really quite simple and silly! Plug in your USB device, then click on a little arrow that appears in the bottom right near the time, then click on "Eject the storage device ...... safely"
There you go, all you have to do is reconnect your device and everything will go back to normal!

Here is a technique that works when you don't have a physical button on your USB stick to unlock the write protection:

Open an "execute"
windows key (between Alt and Ctrl) + R, or Start>run.

In the window, type cmd. This will open an MS-DOS window (or something like that).

To return to the root in your MS-DOS window, type "cd\", then you need to navigate to your USB stick. For this, it is important to know which letter has been assigned to it. It depends on the number of storage devices you have plugged in; it could be D: or F: or even G: To find out, open "My Computer" and you can see the source letter of your USB stick.

Once you know the letter, type F: (or G: I: depending on the source letter of your drive)

To check that it's indeed the USB stick, you can type dir which will give you the list in the main root of your USB stick. If there’s nothing there, you won't see anything.

Now you will need to format the stick. It’s simple; type "format F:" (or format G: format I: depending on the source letter of your drive)

Questions will be asked; always respond "yes" (press y) and the formatting of your disk can begin.

For my part, this allowed me to solve the write protection issue on my USB stick. I hope it will be the same for you.

I had the same issue with my mp3 (in the shape of a USB like the first ones) actually it was because the "hold" button was activated to prevent it from turning on by itself for example... you need to deactivate it and it works!

After testing all the methods that could exist, I finally found this method, the first one didn't work but the second one did.

Method 1

Here is the guide:

* Start Menu -> Run -> type ‘regedit’ (without the quotes) -> Hit Enter!
* Now take a backup of your registry, in case something goes wrong:
Right Click on ‘My Computer’ -> ‘Export’ > save it on the Desktop.
* Now Browse through these tabs:
My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies
* Double click on the string ‘WriteProtect’ and change the ‘Value Data’ box to ‘0’
* On Toolbar, Click on File -> Export -> Save it anywhere with any name like ‘WriteProtection01.reg’ or anything.
* You need to repeat steps 3 - 5 with every string in the folder named ‘ControlSet***’ (* = any Digit, i.e. 001, 002) - that is, instead of currentcontrolset, repeat the steps for folders controlset***
For Example:
My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\ControlSet001\Control\StorageDevicePolicies
- Again export it in the same directory as before, named as ‘WriteProtection0**.reg’

Note: These exports are just in case you need to revert the changes in your registry, to revert, just double click on the *.reg file, and click yes when it prompts.

This method worked for me, post your results in your comments, or if you know another alternative to this method, don't forget to share it with us.

In case the first method doesn't work:

Method 2

Hey I figured out that if you have XP (not XP S2 or whatever it's called) you can't find storagedevicepolicies.

I went to this site and found the answer. For those of you who don't know Spanish, I'll translate. :D

Basically go here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\UsbStor

on there you should see “Start”

right-click it and click on Modify

change the 3 to a 0.

For me the second method worked..

I hope this helps some..

I had the same problem: impossible access + write protection.
All the solutions I found here and there were ineffective in my case and no low-level formatting software worked... except for this one: Apacer AH320_Utility_LFormat (I had recovered data with PCInspector smart and file recovery)
http://www.apacer.com/en/support/downloads/AH320_Utility_LFormat.zip
I'm sharing this address because the original site where I downloaded it was in Russian (link found on an American forum, for the record)

Truly effective because I had almost given up!

Phew... this forum is one of the first listed by Google on the topic (that's why I'm posting here in the hope that others will spend less time than I did to get here) despite the rather frustrating solution of physically unlocking the drive suggested here but also found in many places.

It's working perfectly, thanks :)

After reading X forums and trying everything, reformatting with this software saved my USB stick

*happy*

It won't end up in the trash after all.

Good evening,

Check this out https://forums.commentcamarche.net/forum/affich-1530400-protection-en-ecriture-d-une-cle-usb thanks to the one who found it, it was really quite simple after all!

Hello everyone,

Fact: Start => Run => regedit

Search for this key:
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies\
If the REGDWORD value named WriteProtect is 1, change it to 0

Bye

Hello,

Thank you for your response, but my key should not be one of the models that has this... I tried to format it but I can't either, since it is write-protected.
Do you have another solution?
Thank you!

G:\>format G:
Insert a new disk for drive G:
and press ENTER when you are ready...
The file system type is FAT.
Checking 940 MB
Unable to format. This volume is write protected.

This is what I get when I try your solution -________- desperate XD

Hello! I tried everything, and then I finally came across this site:
https://www.clubic.com/forum/t/media-protege-en-ecriture-vista-sp1/225538

The guy found a miracle solution! It's crazy how well it works!
In my case, the problem was with Vista because on other computers equipped with XP there was no problem formatting!

Hi,

I just solved my "write protection" problem with my USB stick.

I'm not blonde, but it took me the whole afternoon to realize there’s a tiny button on the side of my USB stick; I toggled it, and of course, a miracle happened: I could again delete the files stored on the stick and also format it.

Check if you also have a little button to push.

Bye

That works for me, thank you very much.

Hello,

I tried about 20 different solutions to try to solve the problem you all have.
And now I've found the right one! I promise, for the skeptics, there's no (frustrating) story about a little button on the drive, no registry tweaks, no ejecting and reconnecting the drive, or using formatting software that replaces all the content with zeros, etc., etc., etc... This one really works:

https://www.troublefixers.com/remove-write-protection-on-usb-pen-drive-or-memory-card-or-ipod/

For those of you who are not so good at English, here’s the (simple) method summarized in French:

First, copy all the content of your drive somewhere for backup: the next operation will delete everything on it.

1 - Download this: http://www.apacer.com/en/support/downloads/HS2.0_Utility_LFormat.zip
2 - Then unzip the folder onto your computer.
3 - Plug the drive into the USB port of your PC.
4 - Open "start.bat" in the folder of the software you just downloaded.
5 - A ms dos window opens, and the drive starts to blink (that’s normal):
WAIT for the drive to stop blinking, depending on the size of your drive, the operation may take a few minutes (so don’t stress, just let it do its thing). Once the light on your drive stops blinking (it goes out), you can safely remove the drive (don’t yank it out, eject it properly: right-click on the drive icon in "My Computer" and select "eject"). Plug it back in and everything is erased and reset to zero; you can now copy or delete files on that damn drive that drove you crazy like it did me!

If by any chance you have the worst luck and this solution doesn’t work, take a closer look at the link I provided above (first); they propose a more rustic solution at the end that seems to cut all problems short.
Otherwise, you can jump on your USB drive: it’s satisfying.

Boj downloads software to simplify flash memory. It repairs all memory defects.

I had the same problem as you, and I found a little software on the website of the manufacturer of my USB drive.

The software is called Mformat by Transcend and it's quite miraculous.

Here’s the link:

http://melanthios-ana.com/zcvisitor/0c8b85f5-36ab-11eb-a256-128a547dd3f1/72092e88-2c53-401c-b988-51ef43ce1034?campaignid=47f83760-f118-11ea-9bc8-0ac2bbf4ada7

Courage! ;)

Best regards, Benoit.

Hello,

By right-clicking on the key, then properties, and unlock.

Some models have this! and others don’t.

--
Help my neighbor as I was helped...
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