Previous Page

---

USB Flash-Drive Became Read-Only and Cannot Remove Write-Protect

Recently, I ran into a technical-issue of my own that even I could not resolve, and it turns out that such issue is fairly common amongst the new SSD-type flash-drives (or at least whatever category that the SanDisk USB flash-drives are that I picked up from a Wal-Mart one day) that have been out on the market within the last decade.

Unfortunately, they (the new «models» of portable storage-devices) seem to have a particular shelf-life (for lack of better wording/vocabulary), due to a limited amount of write-cycles that can be used until the entire drive locks up and becomes read-only/write-protected (but can apparently be read from for-ever or at least until the device itself breaks).

I only had the thumb-drive for a few months though, so, more-likely, although I had been actively using my flash-drive, I think the very long file-names that I was transferring recently was a more-likely trigger (although I was transferring a high-quantity number of files which included many large file-sizes so maybe I ended up inadvertently and unknowingly bringing the drive to the end of its life-cycle seemingly pre-maturely).

Hey, even someone like myself, who has literally decades of experience with computers and electronics, cannot possibly nor necessarily know everything that is needed to fix or prevent every problem that may arise in the use of computers and their components. Fortunately, replacement storage-drives are relatively inexpensive these days, and was one of the reasons provided from the web-site hosting providers as to why they are able to offer unlimited storage-space (provided that the disk-space used is due to the ordinary course of business-use regular web-site updates and not as a storage-service). I decided to order an external HDD (Hard-Disk-Drive) in the end.

Additionally, I was reminded about the use of on-line storage-systems, such as OneDrive from MicroSoft. Cloud-style storage definitely makes it much more convenient for people like me who make use of multiple different devices and computers who do not always want to keep plugging and unplugging a storage-device from one computer to another, especially if it's to update/synchronise a data-information file without either making lots of duplicate copies or plugging and unplugging and re-plugging the storage-devices to keep the information/data uniform.

Regardless of whether it has anything to do with the Mandela-Effect or not in changing around the designs of technological-equipment, I suppose, all we can really do is establish reliable redundant back-up protocols to keep/protect important information in order to keep the records safe from being lost or destroyed (provided that it does not happen anyway due to any so-called Acts of God). I regard OneDrive to be a good solution for now.

For those who still want to try the various solutions that I had pulled up but found did not work anyway, the following below-links provide various methods, but I write this article to save you from wasting time on methods that are unlikely to have any effect on your SSD (Solid-State Drive) portable/USB storage-device. Have a nice day !