Guest EriX Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 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
Guest PvdG42 Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 Re: USB stick locked - unable to unlock, format, or delete files "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.
Guest EriX Posted July 16, 2007 Posted July 16, 2007 Re: USB stick locked - unable to unlock, format, or delete files No sutch thing, unfortunatelly. But thanks anyway!
Guest Uwe Sieber Posted July 17, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Re: USB stick locked - unable to unlock, format, or delete files 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?
Guest C.Joseph Drayton Posted July 18, 2007 Posted July 18, 2007 Re: USB stick locked - unable to unlock, format, or delete files 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."
Guest EriX Posted July 19, 2007 Posted July 19, 2007 Re: USB stick locked - unable to unlock, format, or delete files 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
Guest EriX Posted July 19, 2007 Posted July 19, 2007 Re: USB stick locked - unable to unlock, format, or delete files 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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