How do you unwrite protect a usb flash drive?

Answer 1

I'm going to go out on a limb here and assume the following:

1. The USB flash drive in question has been used before in a Windows environment;
2. The user is trying to write to the USB flash drive with a Mac.

By default, Mac OS X can't write to any volumes formatted with NTFS format (the standard format for Windows NT and later). If the drive has previously been formatted to NTFS on Windows (the question posed appears to suggest this, since most USB flash drives come formatted FAT32 by default), then the Mac will be unable to write to it.

To remedy this, first, create a folder on your desktop and copy all data from the USB flash drive into it. Then...

1. Launch Disk Utility (from Finder, click Go > Utilities > Disk Utility).
2. Select the USB flash drive in the left column
3. Click the "Erase" tab in the large area to the right.
4. In the "Format" drop-down menu, select MS-DOS (FAT) if you'd like to use the flash drive with both Windows and Mac computers. Select "Mac OS Extended" if you will use it with Mac only.
5. Enter a name into the "Name" field, being careful to avoid punctuation or special characters.
6. Click "Erase..."

After a few seconds, the drive should be ready for use.

Note that if the drive is formatted using FAT32, you will be unable to copy any single files larger than 4GB to the drive (this should only be a problem for very large media files, like video files or disk images).

__________________________________________________________

Questioner:

No it has nothing to do with Mac at all but yes it has been used on Windows.

I was using it to copy some files from my desktop to my lap top and has worked great for some time but suddenly when i was bringing over a 4.6 gig file (The flash drive is 8 gigs and was empty) It delayed and then started saying the files were write protected when they are not. I scanned them and they have no viruses and are deleteable and editable on my desk top. Then my whole flash device started saying it was write protected.

I cant move files to it or off of it and I cant format it even if I wanted too. It is an Ultra Speed 8GB flash drive barely a month hold and has no switch or anything like that. Nor can it be opened as I hear some USB drives can be.

Sorry for the confusion... I should have been more clear and put it under a better category. I hope someone can still answer this problem though.

Answer 2

try formatting it(right click on it in my computer then go down to format)

Answer 3

you flip the switch on drive

Answer 4

flip the switch on it