USB Flash Drive Write Protected - Cannot Remove Protection

RobinNet said:

diskpart
list disk
select disk X
clean
create partition primary
format fs=fat32 quick
assign
exit

On format you can use ntfs or exfat, depends what your flash drive support

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I sent a message to PNY to know what their response would be.
Thanks for the suggestion.

XxXxX said:

you can try a live Linux distro like Ubuntu which will run from a bootable USB
it wont install anything to your system.

when in Ubuntu use 'disks' which will be able to get data off the USB drive
once that is done then you can use disks to format the drive
disks will also show if the drive has failed

having a Linux live USB comes in handy to repair Windows as well
its worth a look, best of luck Steve ..

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I also tried Hiren's Boot disk, which is also powerful; just saying.

Yep it was a faulty usb drive That's the same message I got from diskpart.

Most logical explanation why this happened is because the drive might be removed while still working or it might be a power surge while plugging it (i have seen than happening), either way it was corrupted and locked. That's shy I said formatting it might not fix it, but a total wipe with the clean command might work. Also in worst case you can try to zero fill it (aka low level format) with an appropriate utility. If that also fails, then toss it. However you saved yourself too much time trying the above, it's not worth it for a 8GB drive.

I've tossed it. Once they start having errors that need repairing, historically I've found that keeps happening and they're unreliable.

That's true, but I attempted to reply to the question why did this happen. Just guessing of course, not 100% sure.

I hadn't used it for ages until now