USB stick locked - unable to unlock, format, or delete files

  • Thread starter Thread starter EriX
  • Start date Start date
E

EriX

System: DELL Dimension 8300, P4 3.2 MHz, with PX Pro (SP2) 1 GB RAM
and 250GB HD.

I have been copying files to and from a 1GB USB stick for some time,
when it suddenly locked. Now I am unable to delete the files on it, or
reformat the drive (E:). XP boot in Safe Mode won't help, nor will
anything executed from the command line. I have tried every variation
of 'FORMAT' (including some undocumented parameters from the DOS-era -
getting desperate here...), ran 'CHKDSK /F", 'SCANDISK' and some
external tools, like Norton Utilities (32-bit). I have also tried to
'MOVE' the files elswhere, REName them, and remove attributes in safe
mode - to no avail.

I *AM* able to open, read and copy SOME of the files from this virtual
drive, but not to change or delete them. The stick contains
accidentally deleted files and folders that has been recovered from
the Recycle bin by an external undelete utility. The contents are now
backed up to CD's so I don't need them anymore, but I'd like to have
my USB stick back...

Any ideas?


Erik
 
"EriX" <erix@rixtele.com> wrote in message
news:1184603442.084291.48310@g4g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
>
> System: DELL Dimension 8300, P4 3.2 MHz, with PX Pro (SP2) 1 GB RAM
> and 250GB HD.
>
> I have been copying files to and from a 1GB USB stick for some time,
> when it suddenly locked. Now I am unable to delete the files on it, or
> reformat the drive (E:). XP boot in Safe Mode won't help, nor will
> anything executed from the command line. I have tried every variation
> of 'FORMAT' (including some undocumented parameters from the DOS-era -
> getting desperate here...), ran 'CHKDSK /F", 'SCANDISK' and some
> external tools, like Norton Utilities (32-bit). I have also tried to
> 'MOVE' the files elswhere, REName them, and remove attributes in safe
> mode - to no avail.
>
> I *AM* able to open, read and copy SOME of the files from this virtual
> drive, but not to change or delete them. The stick contains
> accidentally deleted files and folders that has been recovered from
> the Recycle bin by an external undelete utility. The contents are now
> backed up to CD's so I don't need them anymore, but I'd like to have
> my USB stick back...
>
> Any ideas?
>
>
> Erik
>
Is there a physical switch (often tiny) on the device itself that got
switched to the locked position?
All three of my sticks have such a switch and one is easy to move
inadvertently.
 
If all USB drives appear to write protected then it's probably
XP's write protect policy:
http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtrouble_e.html#write_protected


Uwe


EriX wrote:
> System: DELL Dimension 8300, P4 3.2 MHz, with PX Pro (SP2) 1 GB RAM
> and 250GB HD.
>
> I have been copying files to and from a 1GB USB stick for some time,
> when it suddenly locked. Now I am unable to delete the files on it, or
> reformat the drive (E:). XP boot in Safe Mode won't help, nor will
> anything executed from the command line. I have tried every variation
> of 'FORMAT' (including some undocumented parameters from the DOS-era -
> getting desperate here...), ran 'CHKDSK /F", 'SCANDISK' and some
> external tools, like Norton Utilities (32-bit). I have also tried to
> 'MOVE' the files elswhere, REName them, and remove attributes in safe
> mode - to no avail.
>
> I *AM* able to open, read and copy SOME of the files from this virtual
> drive, but not to change or delete them. The stick contains
> accidentally deleted files and folders that has been recovered from
> the Recycle bin by an external undelete utility. The contents are now
> backed up to CD's so I don't need them anymore, but I'd like to have
> my USB stick back...
>
> Any ideas?
 
EriX wrote:
> System: DELL Dimension 8300, P4 3.2 MHz, with PX Pro (SP2) 1 GB RAM
> and 250GB HD.
>
> I have been copying files to and from a 1GB USB stick for some time,
> when it suddenly locked. Now I am unable to delete the files on it, or
> reformat the drive (E:). XP boot in Safe Mode won't help, nor will
> anything executed from the command line. I have tried every variation
> of 'FORMAT' (including some undocumented parameters from the DOS-era -
> getting desperate here...), ran 'CHKDSK /F", 'SCANDISK' and some
> external tools, like Norton Utilities (32-bit). I have also tried to
> 'MOVE' the files elswhere, REName them, and remove attributes in safe
> mode - to no avail.
>
> I *AM* able to open, read and copy SOME of the files from this virtual
> drive, but not to change or delete them. The stick contains
> accidentally deleted files and folders that has been recovered from
> the Recycle bin by an external undelete utility. The contents are now
> backed up to CD's so I don't need them anymore, but I'd like to have
> my USB stick back...
>
> Any ideas?
>
>
> Erik
>

I would use the freeware utility 'Unlocker' to delete the
file files from the 6thumbdrive.

Ciao . . . C.Joseph

"A promise is nothing more than an attempt,
to respond to an unreasonable request."
 
On 17 Juli, 09:21, Uwe Sieber <m...@uwe-sieber.de> wrote:
> If all USB drives appear to write protected then it's probably
> XP's write protect policy:http://www.uwe-sieber.de/usbtrouble_e.html#write_protected
>
> Uwe

All other USB device work fine, including their "ports". Besides, the
solution mentioned in the link you provided is not applicable since
there is no "StorageDevicePolicies" string anywhere in the registry of
my WinXP Pro (SP2).

But thanks for the input.


Erik
 
On 18 Juli, 04:17, "C.Joseph Drayton" <cs...@tlerma.com> wrote:
> EriX wrote:
> > System: DELL Dimension 8300, P4 3.2 MHz, with PX Pro (SP2) 1 GB RAM
> > and 250GB HD.
>
> > I have been copying files to and from a 1GB USBstickfor some time,
> > when it suddenly locked. Now I am unable to delete the files on it, or
> > reformat the drive (E:). XP boot in Safe Mode won't help, nor will
> > anything executed from the command line. I have tried every variation
> > of 'FORMAT' (including some undocumented parameters from the DOS-era -
> > getting desperate here...), ran 'CHKDSK /F", 'SCANDISK' and some
> > external tools, like Norton Utilities (32-bit). I have also tried to
> > 'MOVE' the files elswhere, REName them, and remove attributes in safe
> > mode - to no avail.
>
> > I *AM* able to open, read and copy SOME of the files from this virtual
> > drive, but not to change or delete them. Thestickcontains
> > accidentally deleted files and folders that has been recovered from
> > the Recycle bin by an external undelete utility. The contents are now
> > backed up to CD's so I don't need them anymore, but I'd like to have
> > my USBstickback...
>
> > Any ideas?
>
> > Erik
>
> I would use the freeware utility 'Unlocker' to delete the
> file files from the 6thumbdrive.
>
> Ciao . . . C.Joseph
>
> "A promise is nothing more than an attempt,
> to respond to an unreasonable request."- Dölj citerad text -
>
> - Visa citerad text -

Installed *Unlocker' and ran it. It couldn't unlock the USB device but
promised to delete the files at the next boot. It couldn't do that
either -- the files are still there.

The utility seem to work fine in *other* situations, so I'll keep it.
Thanks for the tip.

Erik
 
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