I've run into a problem with my USB drive that seems to be stuck in read-only mode. I initially tried a quick format, but I received a write-only error, which doesn't seem right. I attempted to use diskpart to change the write attributes, but I got an I/O error instead. Both chkdsk and Rufus also threw the same I/O error, although I can still read files from the drive. I'm really wondering if there's any way to clear the data or fix this without resorting to physical destruction of the drive. Any advice?
2 Answers
Yep, if it's indeed read-only, that makes sense. Formatting requires the ability to write, which isn't possible if the drive is locked in that mode.
Wait, did you say 'write-only'? That sounds like a hilarious mistake! I think you meant 'read-only', right? Because if your USB is read-only, then you can’t format it since that's a write operation.
Yeah, I definitely meant read-only! Thanks for clarifying.