is usb flash drive damaged by not using SAFELY REMOVING HARDWAREfunction?

  • Thread starter Thread starter aaronep
  • Start date Start date
A

aaronep

When attempting to write to one of my USB flash drives, I get error
message "cannot save because drive is write protected". I didn't
know that these drives can be write protected.

It may be that I removed the drive while the computer was on and did
not use the SAFELY REMOVE HARDWARE function. If this is the
situation, is there a method whereby the
drive can be restored or refreshed, etc.

All replies welcomed! Aaron
 
When attempting to write to one of my USB flash drives, I get error
message "cannot save because drive is write protected". I didn't
know that these drives can be write protected.
Click to expand...

Some models do have a write protect switch.
It may be that I removed the drive while the computer was on and did
not use the SAFELY REMOVE HARDWARE function. If this is the
situation, is there a method whereby the
drive can be restored or refreshed, etc.
Click to expand...

If the flash stick is set up as 'optimised for speed' then, yes, failing to
stop it under 'safely remove ...' risks removing it before the buffered data
is written back. More importantly, it risks that the stick is pulled while
the all important FAT and TOC are being written. If these get corrupted
than some or all of the data can be lost.

It is better if the stick is set up as 'optimised for fast removal'. It is
only then necesary to check that the access light on the stick isn't
flashing before pulling it. The speed penalty is negligible for FLASH
memory sticks.
 
Problem Solved! I went to Imation's website and learned that indeed,
there is a write protect switch on the flash drive. The switch is the
size of a pinhead. I switched positions on the switch and no more
"write protect" errors. All is well!
Thank you! Aaron
 
Back
Top