USB Flash Drive showing up as LOCAL DISK

I have purchased several SanDisk USB Flash Drives and this is the first one that shows up as a LOCAL DISK (and not as a REMOVABLE DISK).  When I attempt to copy a file to the drive in Windows Media Player (Windows 7) the “Start syc” option is grayed out and I am unable to copy to the USB Flash Drive. Can any body help me with this?

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If you use Windows Explorer can you copy the file to the USB drive?

Ed I am having a similar problem,

I am trying to use a SanDisk Cruzer Glide to pull an image off of a Wyse thin client.

The problem I am running into is that Windows does not see this drive as a removeable drive; so the Wyse USB tool won’t work.

Does SanDisk have a utility which can be used to tweak the firmware?

From what I am readying MS may have be requiring that flash drives have the removeable bit set to ‘0’ to be compliant with Windows 8.

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Does SanDisk have a utility which can be used to tweak the firmware?

Good news, bad news.   Bad news 1st, no there is no utility to change the firmware.  Good news, SanDisk has stopped making the flash drives appear as Fixed.

Thanks Ed,

Glad to see that this problem won’t be around for long.

So basically, I just purchased a defective usb flash drive.  The reason I bought it is because I’ve been using a 4gb cruz (my daughter’s) and it’s been working flawlessly to write boot images on.  This one isn’t recognized as a removable disk, so there goes 90% of usb utilities out there.

A sandisk bit flip utility should be in the works.  We are intering the age of solid state hard drives afterall, changing their removable media status makes flash storage more versatile.

so there goes 90% of usb utilities out there

If the 90% of USB utilities were still being maintained and supported they would get updated to support the new Windows 8 standard.  Blame the unsupported USB utility creators but not the ones who have graduated, they’re in universarity now. :wink:

I’ve just run into this with a couple of recently purchased 16GB Cruzer pen drives. First thing I noticed was they were extremely slow transfering files compare to older sticks I have and today while using them I noticed they had acquired a Recycled and System Volume Information folder and they do indeed show up as fixed drives in Computer Management. It’s bad enough these don’t install as removable media , but what concerns me is I purchased these to be used with some music equipment I have that uses USB drives for data storage and transfer to and from my PC. I haven’t yet tried these sticks with the music gear, but I’m extremely concerned about reliable functioning of these sticks for data storage in that gear. Nothing on the site where I bought them or on the packaging indicated they were for Win8 or otherwise. I’ve got a feeling these will be returned to the retailer as defective if I can’t find a quick fix. I am kind of a dinosaur as I’m still using reliable WinXP sp3, but then again so are many others.

 I’m still using reliable WinXP sp3, but then again so are many others.

Just remember Win XP’s Microsoft support ends April of this year and usually when that happens apps from other vendors start dropping their support also.

I’ve got a feeling these will be returned to the retailer as defective if I can’t find a quick fix.

AFAIK There is no fix, quick or slow, so start planning the return.

Has anybody tried Zotac WinUSB Maker

http://joshcellsoftwares.com/products/zotacwinusbmaker/

to make the computer recognize the Sandisk Cruzer Glide 8gb as a removable media?  I’m trying to get this flash drive to work with Acronis  for a bootable media.

John Rich

John,

WinUSB Maker doesn’t see my Cruzer Facet (and anyway its functionality is apparently now limited to installing Windows).

However, following Ed_P’s suggestion to use RMPrepUSB (please see below), I had no problem making my Fixed/Local flash drive boot Acronis True Image Home 2013 and Disk Director 11.

Regards,

David.

Edit: Apologies, I just can’t get the link to the other post to work properly, so let’s try a naked link with a line all to itself…

http://forums.sandisk.com/t5/All-SanDisk-USB-Flash-Drives/Fixed-Local-Flash-Drives/td-p/313281

On 2-10-2014 I posted the following question, “How can my 16 GB Cruzer be flagged as a Removable Drive instead of a System Disk? [Incident: 140209-000171]”

The reply I received back follows…

Dear Mike,

Thanks for emailing SanDisk Technical Support. It is our goal to make sure you have all the resources you need to get the most from your product.

I sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. Please be informed that the flash drives are the plug and play storage devices. In mid-2013 SanDisk changed production of Cruzer USB Drives to show up as fixed disk to meet a requirement for Windows 8 certification. At the end of 2013, SanDisk reverted back to producing Cruzer USB Drives as removable disk. There is no tool available to change SanDisk Cruzer USB Drives between fixed and removable disk configuration. SanDisk Cruzer USB Drives in removable disk configuration will be available again shortly in retail outlets.

Also, Please be informed that Flash drives configured as fixed disks still function the same as those configured as removable disk but unfortunately it may not be recognized by the multiple software’s on the computer that can only recognize the external drive as a removable disk.

Please reply to this email for any further queries and i will be glad to assist you further.

Please refer to your My SanDisk at http://kb.sandisk.com anytime to see all of your incident history and product registration information. You can log in using your email address as your login and the password that you created.

Also, you can visit http://kb.sandisk.com, our online keyword searchable Knowledgebase, to easily find answers to your Technical Support and Customer Service questions for all of SanDisk’s products. Simply enter your search terms and our Knowledgebase will search an extensive database of commonly asked questions as well as our online forums at http://forums.sandisk.com to provide you with the most complete answers possible.

Best regards,

John S.

SanDisk Technical Support

…I’m hopeful I can find my receipt and take it back to the retailer and turn around and buy a newer version that is treated as a REMOVABLE DRIVE.

I wonder how do we know if the USB Cruzer is a SYSTEM DISK or a REMOVABLE DRIVE???

  

                        …Mike

Some stores in the US don’t require receipts when returning merchandize if it was purchased with a credit card.  They can confirm the sale on their register systems.

Rufus v1.4.2 383 worked for me. I used it to successfully create working, bootable ISO images on my Cruzer Fit even though it was reading as a fixed drive instead of removeable media. Other utilities I tried wouldn’t even recognize the drive.

Your Rufus sounds like an interesting app but, according to your link, with an unusual requirement.

“you need to work on a system that doesn’t have an OS installed”

I think most visitors here have installed OSs. 

Have your tried RMPrepUSB’s Easy2Boot?

@ed_p wrote:

Your Rufus sounds like an interesting app but, according to your link, with an unusual requirement.

 

“you need to work on a system that doesn’t have an OS installed”

 

 

I believe this refers to the popular use of installing an OS on your flash drive.  My computer is Windows, but I have an Apple OS X bootable image that I run inside of Windows.  It’s easier to keep OS X on a flash drive instead of within the Windows system folders, and if it’s on the flash drive you can even use it on computers without an OS.

I’m having the same fixed drive issue, but I don’t need it to be removable.  I’m only using it as portable storage.  I’ll just have to learn to sleep well knowing I won’t “Safely Remove Hardware”

I’ll just have to learn to sleep well knowing I won’t “Safely Remove Hardware”

A couple of glasses of wine before bed helps.  :smileyvery-happy:

Check the Windows setting for USB drives and see if it’s set for Performance or Safety.

This appears to be a stale thread, will Sandisk take these defective flash drives back? There was no indication on the package that they are not normal removable USB flash drives. I got them cheap, I suppose I can just give them away to people who only have VERY basic needs, but as someone in the IT field, I need my flash drives to work properly as an official removable device. These are useless to me.

SanDisk really screwed up here, as did Microsoft with their logo certification requirements. Ultimately though, it’s Sandisks fault for not providing a utility that can flip the bit and allow this device to work as a normal removable drive and the goofy non-standard Microsoft mode. Even more so that they sold these without clear disclosure that they ONLY operate in this non-standard fixed disk mode.

it’s Sandisks fault for not providing a utility that can flip the bit and allow this device to work as a normal removable drive

They use a totally different chip set in these drives.  It’s not as simple as flipping a bit. 

If the device doesn’t work for you, return it.  Either to where you bought it or to SanDisk.

OK, I’ll re-phrase. It’s SanDisk’s fault for releasing a product that could only be used in one way rather than a product that could be configured to operate in either the standard removable mode or the brain damaged Windows 8 certification mode.

Hopefully they have learned from this.