how do I change read only status on my USB storage devices, such as the Sadisk Ultra?

Question

My usb storage devices are showing as read only and won't allow me to format them. I use BalenaEtcher to write to them. What is causing this and how do I change their status?

Answer 1

Hello Charles Lindsey,

BalenaEtcher writes the entire image and its partition layout to the USB. Windows may then stop recognizing the drive as a normal writable device. This does not necessarily mean Etcher damaged it.

These steps completely erase the selected USB. Check its capacity carefully so you do not select the wrong drive.

• Open Command Prompt as administrator.
• Run each command separately:

diskpart
list disk
select disk X
attributes disk clear readonly
clean
create partition primary
format fs=exfat quick
assign
exit

• Replace X with the USB’s disk number shown by list disk.

If clean returns a write-protection or I/O error, test the USB on another computer. If the same error occurs, the drive may be failing and should probably be replaced. Balena notes that worn flash storage can become unusable when its storage blocks fail.

Answer 2

I believe you can flash Windows 11 to the USB drive using Belena Etcher, boot from the USB, and then install Windows on your computer, but I'm not exactly sure you can flash Windows 11 using Belena Etcher. You must boot from the USB drive. There is no need to open the drive from Windows to read and write to it.This video shows that it can be done: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jy3dZu7RCg