How do i remove write protection from a usb memory stick

[bobbull080842]

I have a memory stick that has been write protected and I want to clear the pictures and documents off of it so I can continue to use the stick. How do I do that using windows 7 pro.

 

[Brett928S2]

slide the little switch on its side...

 

[mbarnes86]

Hi


If your usb memory stick does not have a switch then the error indicated the memory chip(s)are faulty
Data recovery is expensive, probably requiring the chips to be un-soldered.

Buy a good quality replacement.

An alternative may be you formatted it in a Mac or Linux system and can't read it in a Windows PC
Though the likely 'error message' would be different.

I recently looked at a collection of USB memory sticks formatted in a Mac which could not be read in the owners Windows PC
Looking at them in another Windows 7 PC and found there were a lot of files with names starting with a . which means hidden file in Unix
Formatting as fat32 in Windows cured the problem.

regards

Mike Barnes