I have a 4GB HP USB flash drive that I had written a Chromium OS image to with Win32DiskImager. Now I am trying to reformat it but I can't. Everything tells me the disk is write protected. Being a USB flash drive, there is no write-protect switch. I have tried the standard windows format thing, disk management, diskpart and HP USB Disk Storage Format Tool. I also tried the registry modification.

Hack son mau nick paltalk. It should rather say 'device is gpt, convert to mbr', not 'device is write protected' because it is not. Also you can copy files, meaning that drive isn't write protected and i showed that in.

Here is the results of trying to use diskpart: Microsoft Windows [Version 6.3.9600] (c) 2013 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

C: WINDOWS system32>diskpart Microsoft DiskPart version 6.3.9600 Copyright (C) 1999-2013 Microsoft Corporation. On computer: BRANDON-PC DISKPART> list disk Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt -------- ------------- ------- ------- --- --- Disk 0 Online 931 GB 1024 KB Disk 1 No Media 0 B 0 B Disk 2 No Media 0 B 0 B Disk 3 No Media 0 B 0 B Disk 4 No Media 0 B 0 B Disk 5 No Media 0 B 0 B Disk 6 Online 3824 MB 0 B DISKPART> select disk 6 Disk 6 is now the selected disk. DISKPART> attributes disk clear readonly Disk attributes cleared successfully. DISKPART> clean DiskPart has encountered an error: Incorrect function.

See the System Event Log for more information. DISKPART> create partition primary DiskPart succeeded in creating the specified partition. DISKPART> format fs=fat32 0 percent completed Virtual Disk Service error: The media is write protected. DISKPART> exit Leaving DiskPart. C: WINDOWS system32> Even after using 'attributes disk clear readonly' it still says the media is write protected. I think it's because the clean operation fails.

If none of the other suggested answers here work, then your USB flash drive is probably going bad. There is a controller chip on the USB stick that manages the flash memory. If the flash controller detects any kind of unrecoverable error with the memory cells (a reallocation failure, for example), then it trips a safety condition and makes the drive read-only at the firmware level to protect your data. Unfortunately, there is no way to get the drive out of this condition without the factory software for your drive. Flash drive manufacturers do not make this software available to the public, so the only way to get it is from Chinese hack sites. Your only option here is to replace it. The top brands (Kingston, SanDisk, Lexar, etc.) provide lifetime warranties on their products.

I have no idea how to go about getting that warranty though. But with flash drive prices being what they are, it's probably better to just go buy a new one -- unless it's a really nice one.

Being a USB flash drive, there is no write-protect switch. Well, there are USB flash drives with (sometimes very well hidden) write-protect switches. I don't know of any such drive made by HP though. Assuming your drive doesn't have such a switch, seeing what you've already tried, I think you need a new one. I've had two flash drives from different manufacturers that suddenly were read-only, and there was no way of fixing it. I don't have any sources on this, but I assume this is a protection mechanism diminishes the risk of total data loss when the flash drive starts failing.

There are a couple of ways to fix this problem. Some of them are mentioned in the other answers, but I don't think that is the case. I've had the same issue before. Here's what you have to try. Download a tool called and check your device VID and PID. Go to and enter the device VID or PID and search for the flash tool for your device. To make sure you get the right one, check on the CheapEasy tool for your Flash Part number or flash ID, which usually will be on the description of the flash tool you have to download.

If you have trouble finding the right tool, export you device information and send a link so I can check it. It might look impossible to find the right one, but I've fixed almost all types of USBs, expect some chinese copies of Kingston USBs. Try this if using cmd doesn't work: Removing write-protection in the Registry using Regedit.exe • Search and open regedit. • Navigate to Computer HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE SYSTEM CurrentControlSet Control StorageDevicePolicies.

• Double-click on the WriteProtect value in the right-hand pane of Regedit.exe. Change the Value data from 1 to 0 and click OK to save the change. • Close Regedit and restart your computer. Connect your USB drive again, and you should find it is no longer write protected.

You can now format the drive as normal by right-clicking on it in My Computer and choosing Format. After formatting you may revert the settings(0 to 1) or if you created the value, then delete it, then reboot. Note: If you can't find StoredDevicePolicies then you have to create one by right clicking on Control > New > Key and name it as StoredDevicePolicies.