USB pen drive write protected

conoflex · 19 Aug 2011 at 16:33

I have a unbranded 2gb usb drive and it has a 499 mb write protected partition on it is there anyway of getting rid of it ?
I have tried low level format and few other tools from the net but nothing has worked yet

conoflex · 19 Aug 2011 at 16:46

[Damien];19869955 said:
Personally I'd use a gparted boot disc (there may be easier ways in windows but gparted is reliable as hell) and just delete it.

Ok fair enuf but where how etc ? not heard of it before now

conoflex · 20 Aug 2011 at 11:30

[Damien];19870211 said:
You can get it from (http://gparted.sourceforge.net/). You can either boot it from cd, or like I do, from USB. Instructions should be on the site somewhere.

Excellent thanks very much. top bananna!

conoflex · 20 Aug 2011 at 12:14

Did that program works great but still won't delete the 499mb partition.
It's taking the mick now, I found out that it is a smart notebook student edition usb drive so the 499mb is the smart bit.

conoflex · 20 Aug 2011 at 16:08

CaptainCrash said:
Try the Windows diskpart utility - first fire up a command prompt (as administrator), then:

diskpart

list disk (make a note of the disk number which corresponds to the USB drive)

select disk # (where # is the USB drive number)

clean

exit

Then go into Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management, and create/format a new partition on the drive as normal.

Needless to say, be *very* careful you've selected the right disk before issuing the "clean" command, or there will be much sadness...

Thanks just done that and the result is :
"Diskpart has encountered an error :" "The media is write protected."
See the system event log for more imformation.

conoflex · 21 Aug 2011 at 10:45

Done that as well and i'm still getting the message :
"Diskpart has encountered an error :" "The media is write protected."
See the system event log for more imformation.
Bloody annoying now :mad:

conoflex · 21 Aug 2011 at 11:16

These are things I have tried so far :
searched for a switch to the point of ripping it apart

,
there is "NO WRITE PROTECTION SWITCH"

tried to format (quick / FAT32) = the disk is write-protected
tried to format (quick / FAT) = the disk is write-protected
tried to format (not quick / FAT32) = the disk is write-protected
tried to format (not quick / FAT) = the disk is write-protected
tried to format via DOS = the disk is write-protected
tried tools (i.e onBeley,other low format tools) = the disk is write-protected
tried the regedit fix WriteProtect DWORD value 0 = didnt worked
tried Microsoft© scanDisk™ = the disk is write-protected
tried Microsoft Defrag Tool = the disk is write-protected
tried everything on many computers with xp and vista = the disk is write-protected
reinstalled windows,on the 1st boot,i tried all of this = didnt worked
tried all of these things with restarts and re-connecting usb = didnt worked
i can access/copy/Read data but i cannot "Write" anything on it or delete the partition.

PLUS i've done all of the above suggestions... :confused:

I have had pen drives with this before and always managed to sort them out with one of these, but this is a nightmare. :eek:

conoflex · 21 Aug 2011 at 13:54

CaptainCrash said:
wow... your dedication in getting to the bottom of it is admirable, but I don't think I'd bother reinstalling Windows for the sake of a no-name 2GB flash drive.

Maybe it's been hardware set to be read only, without a user-accessible switch if you see what I mean. I did find this after a bit of googling, could be worth a shot (you might need to do an additional "normal" format afterwards, if in fact it works).

If that doesn't work, just stamp on it, that way it won't bug you any more.

I know aren't I good

I think if this next bit don't work is i'll hide the 499mb partition and use it as a 1.3gb stick

least that way i'll get some use out of it.
Thanks very much for the help yer a gem

d_brennen said:
http://www.dban.org/

Try boot and nuke, but remember to disconnect any hard drives first

I'll give this a go too nothing to lose :rolleyes:

only the last 3 days

conoflex · 21 Aug 2011 at 18:01

Welll that's it I give up, tried it all and even boot & nuke didn't do it just couldn't recognize that part of the drive.
Thanks to all especially CaptainCrash top bananna!!

conoflex · 22 Aug 2011 at 10:39

Ok cheers, I'll them a bash now

conoflex · 22 Aug 2011 at 11:23

[Damien];19887701 said:
conoflex vs flash drive!! The battle of the century!!

I'm rooting for you to fix it. Don't give up!

Lump hammer is on it's way

can't get anything to do it at all

conoflex · 22 Aug 2011 at 11:42

ChipGenius keeps giving me a runtime error 5 all the time (run compatability mode administrator etc)
Flashboot is a good site if I could read Russian

even in trans lation I can't find a program that will do anything.
found a usb checkdisk 5 prog and that doesn't see the partition I want to remove it does say this :

VID&PID: Vid_3538&Pid_0059
Speed: high speed

VendorID: Smart
ProductID: Notebook SE
Product Revision: 0.00

conoflex · 22 Aug 2011 at 13:29

CaptainCrash said:
I'm guessing the write-protected area isn't really a "partition" in the normal sense of the term, it's something implemented at a customised firmware level (like the old U3 flash drives), and you'll need a proprietary tool from the vendor to do anything with it.

In the highly unlikely event that it's actually a U3 drive, there's an open-source app for removing U3 "partitions" - I doubt if it'll do much good, and it may trash the drive (there's a rather endearing warning: "we don't exactly know what we're doing" ), but could be worth it as a shot to nothing.

I'm all for giving "things" a go

and I did you were right didn't work

I also agree that the "partition" isn't really a partition it's hard coded into chip.
I have e-mailed the Smart people to see if they can help, but gonna hold me breath.

conoflex · 22 Aug 2011 at 15:32

Thanks very much indeed, god i'm thick which is the download button ?
sorry :confused:

This taking the mick i'm pressing download button, entering image and it just goes back to previous page ?

conoflex · 22 Aug 2011 at 15:58

I did and it still doesn't start downloading, i'm pressing download button, entering image and it just goes back to previous page.

conoflex · 22 Aug 2011 at 16:03

okey dokey

conoflex · 22 Aug 2011 at 16:07

I've just done it 15 times on the trott and nada nothing zilch zip zero

Any chance you could e-mail it to me if you have downloaded it already.

conoflex · 22 Aug 2011 at 16:18

Excellent thanks very much.

conoflex · 22 Aug 2011 at 16:26

All I need now is to learn how it works

conoflex · 22 Aug 2011 at 17:47

CaptainCrash said:
That's not the point - *it doesn't work*, and we need a solution, or at least an explanation, dammit.

Exactly, besides what else have I got do being an old guy with knackered kidneys who can't work anymore

[Damien];19890887 said:
Hehe, I get that. I take things not working personally as hell. I was just curious what it was about this particular drive that made him even try. I'm sure I've got a few small usb drives kicking around and even though they work fine something that small isn't really much use for anything.

Yeah it gets on my wick when something like happens cos they sell you something in this case a student usb notebook drive (was my granddaughters) saying that you can use them when not needed as it was sold. But then can't use them.
Also if you got a few small usb drives yer not using send em to me

Arthur17 said:
These instructions may help, even though it's for another device.

I have also uploaded the other PQI-related programs from the FlashBoot site here. The one in the "PQI Low Level Format" folder might be worth trying first as it looks like it's the easiest.

Wow!! thanks I was just thinking the lump hammer was on it's way again