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 am sorry to hear that your flash drive is write protected. I understand that you have already tried formatting the drive under Disk Management, like indicated in your original email. Unfortunately, if this troubleshooting step did not help, it means that the flash drive has failed and would need to be replaced. Normally, we recommend returning the device to the place of purchase as it was proven to be the least time consuming option. If for any reason, they refuse to provide you with this service, we would be more than happy to replace the flash drive for you. Please be advised, that you will need to return the faulty item to your local depot at your own expense."
Many people are having this same issue with their USB flash drives from Sandisk just “becoming” write protected. Including me. One sollution might be this: When you buy the new flash drive, it is formatted in the FAT32 system. Format the new and empty flash drive in NTFS an you will not experience this issue agian. So far that seems to be correct.
Now, for those of us who bought a $60 USB flashdrive (e.g. Ultra), let’s just hope we’ve kept the reciept and the guarantee-slip. I’ll return my own first thing monday morning.
