So how can I remove the write protect error?
I’m using in windows 7 32bit
tnx
So how can I remove the write protect error?
Follow the advice in the 2nd post down on this link:
NAND flash chips used in USB drives, memory cards etc generally have 48 pins. If the devices are covered in plastic, we call them Monoliths, then they still do but the bonding wires are hidden. These pins are soldered to the Printed Circuit Board and connected to the USB controller chip. The Controller Chip has Firmware, and also Hard Coded circuits to do error checking and data encoding. These hard coded circuits can never be changed.
One of the Pins on a NAND Flash Chip is WP, or Write Protect. If there is a bug in the software on the controller chip, or in one of the hard coded circuits, or an electrical problem such as a capacitor dies and does not give the NAND chip or controller a stable or correct voltage, then it stands to mention that the device can be stuck in write protect mode. As Sandisk do not give their factory tools out to the public, there is nothing and end user can do generally. In some rare cases there may be a glitch in the system or an OS error that a bit of fiddling can fix, but most cases you should copy your files off and return the device, or simply throw it out and get another one.
BTW, by the time you go to buy a device in the shops, Sandisk could have manufactured it months ago. So there could be many improvements made to the newer replacements, and simply saying never buy sandisk is Ludicrous.
If you want to see how many devices are made, google for USB drives made at Lexar Factory.
If you want to see how some devices are made and in what conditions(such as placing components by hand with a chopstick! Google Bunnie Haung factory USB how made or something like that.
A USB should be a transport device, there should NEVER be files located on a USB that does not exist also on a PC or general file storage.
@linux_user wrote:
> Interesting scenario as to how it occurred.
I used a “SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0” with 32 GB size, two month old, for booting linux and as root-disk. The drive was divided in partitons and ext4 was used as file-system. It was connected to a USB 2.0 port. After starting the real usage of the machine, the next day the drive swiched to “read-only-mode”. I managed to get the data back using dd and copy the image on a other free drive.
Linux has logged all the 13797 defect sectors during the dd command
Nov 2 23:41:31 xxx kernel: [469250.583218] end_request: I/O error, dev sdh, sector 248288
Nov 2 23:41:33 xxx kernel: [469252.619227] end_request: I/O error, dev sdh, sector 248344
[…]
Nov 3 06:00:49 donald kernel: [492007.839117] end_request: I/O error, dev sdh, sector 27920568
Yes, it takes 6 hours to read the drive on a other system, using an USB 3.0 Port.
All listed sectors can be devided by 8 without a rest, so maybe one chip failed. Most sectors are in second half of the drive, hopefully I did not get a faked drive.
@linux_user wrote:
> Interesting scenario as to how it occurred.
I used a “SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0” with 32 GB size, two month old, for booting linux and as root-disk. The drive was divided in partitons and ext4 was used as file-system. It was connected to a USB 2.0 port. After starting the real usage of the machine, the next day the drive swiched to “read-only-mode”. I managed to get the data back using dd and copy the image on a other free drive.
Linux has logged all the 13797 defect sectors during the dd command
Nov 2 23:41:31 xxx kernel: [469250.583218] end_request: I/O error, dev sdh, sector 248288
Nov 2 23:41:33 xxx kernel: [469252.619227] end_request: I/O error, dev sdh, sector 248344
[…]
Nov 3 06:00:49 donald kernel: [492007.839117] end_request: I/O error, dev sdh, sector 27920568
Yes, it takes 6 hours to read the drive on a other system, using an USB 3.0 Port.
All listed sectors can be devided by 8 without a rest, so maybe one chip failed. Most sectors are in second half of the drive, hopefully I did not get a faked drive.
NAND Flash does not use sectors. This is a handy number of 512 used by Hard Drives.
NAND flash use mostly Pages (can be sizes like 2112, 8640, 9216), Blocks, which are a set of Pages, Banks which are like a single chip, where a device with 2 banks is kind of like 2 seperate NAND chips joined together to help with speed and capacity.
1 page of data may be shown in some software as, say, 4 sectors. but really inside a page there are many different ways the data is stored, and there is also Service data that keeps track of errors, etc.
Tricky thing is most can only read a whole page at a time, and write a whole block at a time. So the controller chip is there to control these operations, and also to spread the data around the NAND so it does not wear out(this is called Wear Levelling")
So you can see that there are many place that a memory device can fail, and most are not accessible to the user to fix.
Hope that helps to explain why you need to just return it and get on with your life 
Now my SanDisk Ultra USB 3.0 16 Gb also become unusable because of write protection error after a few months of delete and write. Cannot format and delete parition using Windows or Acronis Disk Director. Will just hammer into pieces to protect my data.
WILL NOT BUY ANY SANDISK PRODUCTS FROM NOW ONWARD.
“WILL NOT BUY ANY SANDISK PRODUCTS FROM NOW ONWARD.”
Or you can save guard your data and still return it for a free replacement. It’s been done before. Your choice.
http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5232/~/return-material-authorization-(rma)-process
@ed_p wrote:
“WILL NOT BUY ANY SANDISK PRODUCTS FROM NOW ONWARD.”
Or you can save guard your data and still return it for a free replacement. It’s been done before. Your choice.
http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5232/~/return-material-authorization-(rma)-process
Hi Ed,
Are you really from Sandisk Company?? 'Coz I think you don’t solve anything from the begining you comment to costumers.
If you said we must “return it” back to Sandisk, so how about our data on that flashdisk??? how many data you had from all of the flashdisk that has been returned?? If it’s a private data, so you can use it for your personal benefit. Are you insane???
Please, if you cannot help, so don’t have any comment to us.
If you really from Sandisk Company, so you must be FIRED. You don’t have passion to handle costumers complaint.
I’m really really disappoint about the QUALITY of sandisk products and sandisk costumers service.
dK
Are you really from Sandisk Company??
Nope, just a user like you.
so how about our data on that flashdisk???
If the data is important, you have it backed up. And when you contact SanDisk you tell them the data is important and that you’re afraid they may have the time to view it and maybe understand it and they will allow you to destroy the flash drive before sending it back for a replacement.
I’m really really disappoint about the QUALITY of sandisk products and sandisk costumers service.
Have you actually spoken or written to SanDisk Customer service? Because this isn’t it.
You don’t have passion to handle costumers complaint.
LOL
Ed you must work for SanDisk or have stock in the company. This problem has been going on for over 2 years and you have been posting on the side of SanDisk for over 2 years. I could understand this being a problem in the begining but this is over 2 years later and the new drives still have the same issue. SO Ed please get off your soap box. These drives aren’t any good and niether is SanDisk for putting out crappy products year after year. Why would I send it back in just to receive another bad drive. Please stop psting ED.
Why would I send it back in just to receive another bad drive.
Well, there has no reported case of that occurring so the advice stands. Now you are welcome to believe what you want including in the tooth fairy but that doesn’t change the facts.
1 Like
I’ll be your first… same thing happened to a drive I returned three months ago after about a month’s use. So, Mr’ GURU here… please - stop being an ■■■■■ and making it look like you happen to know what you are talking about because you are apparently CLUELESS here!
Unless you have a SOLUTION to this problem, you should keep your stupid trap shut and let someone who MAY actually be able to help people, help them.
SOLUTION: THROW AWAY YOUR SanDISK Memory USB Stick - Destroy before doing so obviously… and purchase a brand that is not considered a “CHEAP” USB Drive. If you are paying penny’s on the dollar compared to other thumb drives of the exact same size, you should think about the reason WHY - SanDisk drives are cheaply manufactured, they have a high failure rate (see these forums, google, other tech sites and the forums are filled with people having problems with them).
SanDISK is GREAT if you need a QUICK CHEAP SOLUTION that will not last forever… but if you need reliability - don’t go for the cheapest on the rack… if you do - you’ll wind up where we are here EVERY SINGLE TIME!
I’ll be your first… same thing happened to a drive I returned three months ago after about a month’s use.
That you returned to SanDisk!! Wow. Thanks for the update.
Unless you have a SOLUTION to this problem, you should keep your stupid trap shut
You should consider following your own advice. :smileyvery-happy:
So I was hit by this “feature” too. My 16 GB Cruzer Edge is now a 10GB r/o device and it is already the second SanDisk key that went broke within a year. I don’t care about a replacement. I simply won’t buy SanDisk USB keys any more. I did so because I had very good experience with SanDisk CF and SD cards and because of the Edge design which fully protects the USB plug when it is retracted. But they found a pretty good way to ruin their reputation.
Why doesn’t SanDisk fix this issue? Do they have a contract with the FBI or CIA to spy on the data people store on their flash drives?
There are just devices that breaks down for unknown reasons. But I think Sandisk is exerting their best efforts in preventing this.
i had just purchased a Sandisk CruzerFit 32gb flash drive to use as a USB troubleshooting/system repair boot disk - all I did was insert the drive and was about to format it and start setting it up when I noticed that there were files on the disk - some sort of Sandisk “Safe” utility, so I decided to copy that file on to my hard drive and was about to format the drive and I immediately got the write protect error.
so i sent the drive in, recieved the replacement, went through the format process, and it fails midway through with the write protect error.
I’m sorry but I have purchased dozens of other brand name USB flash drives and never had a problem like this, so the simplest solution is to just buy a different, less problematic brand.
I just bought a Cruzer flash drive from Walmart for $15 and was able to use it for about five minutes tops, having written something like 200MB to it before it went into write protected status and now it will not let me do anything with the drive.
Now there are personal files on there that I cannot remove by either deleting them or even reformatting the drive, so no chance of taking it back to Walmart for a refund and letting some clerk have access to my personal information.
You people are criminals for knowingly putting a defective product on the market.
I believe there are reports of people who have contacted SanDisk about similar situations being allowed to destroy their drive before returning it to SanDisk for a free replacement.
http://kb.sandisk.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5232/~/return-material-authorization-(rma)-process
I believe there was also a report of someone who was able to reformat their write protected drive using an Android system.
Eu concordo luciano, tenho kingston sempre compro ele é melhor cluster, mas problema sandisk q eu ganhei presente do trabalho e mais 4 mês é deu problema ahahah… q porcaria! Mas nunca comprei sandisk.
Tentei pular pra gravar cluster sem inicio é disse ERROR I/O, isso dizendo defeito de flash e melhor desistir, comprar outro rsrss.
Solution follows:
-
Smash device with hammer to remove any confidential data
-
Put pieces in bin
-
Buy USB key from a different vendor
-
Vow never to buy a SANdisk product ever again
I have SanDisk Cruzer Edge 16GB / Made in China / SDCZ51-016G / BL131224494B.
Done reading all comments, there is still no fix for " The disk is write protected" error.
Also, I have many friends using SanDisk products similar to this problem.
There solution is threw it away, buy a new brand.
How sad. 
I found this problem ScanDisk Cruzer Orbit 16GB too. I did serveral solutions but could not fix it. I did not found this probem on Kingston, Toshiba, Apacer and HP. I will not buy ScanDisk any more in future.
