Flash Drive Problem- AGAIN.

[Revolver™]

Sorry guys erm... how do you remove write protection from a Flash disk? There isnt any write protect switch on the thumb drive itself... mm...

[Revolver™]

God... what the hell is with the Thumb drive. The drive seems corrupted again.

I tried to use RUN-> chkdsk /f, but it doesn't works, and a message appears, saying :
'The type of file system is NTFS.
Cannot lock current drive.

Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? <y/n>.

What happen? why can't it work?

[Sylvander]

1. "The type of file system is NTFS"
How come the file system on the Flash Drive is NTFS?
Do you want it to be NTFS?
Which Windows version are you running?

2. "Cannot lock current drive...Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process"
This only happens to me when I try to scan the Windows/Programs {C:] partition.
[Fairly] Obviously, a partition cannot be scanned if/when:
(a) The OS and/or Programs are running on the partition.
OR...
(b) Windows and/or a Program is/are currently using files located on the partition.

This doesn't happen with a partition that only holds data and the data isn't currently being operated upon by Windows and/or Programs.

3. So what do you have on that Flash Drive, and is any program [or Windows itself] using anything on there when you attempt to scan it with chkdsk?
e.g.
(a) Have you relocated to there, anything like...emails, address book, IE Favourites, Firefox Profile, Desktop, My Documents?

(b) Is a program [on C:?] playing a music file that's on the Flash Drive?

4. If you don't/can't change that you'll be forced to scan with chkdsk from outside of Windows.
e.g. Using the Recovery console (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314058).

[Revolver™]

No, i wanted it to be FAT32... it's FAT32 in fact...
I'm running Window XP.

That's wierd. You said that partition cannot be scanned if/when the OS and/or Programs are running on the partition, or when Windows and/or a Program is/are currently using files located on the partition. How do i know if windows are using files located on the partition? I don't think it's anything is running from the Flash drive during that time.

[Sylvander]

1. "it's FAT32 in fact"
Are you sure? What makes you think so?
If it really is, how come...
"a message appears, saying :
"The type of file system is NTFS"."

2. "How do i know if windows are using files located on the partition?"
If you knew and understood everything that was happening/running on the PC, seen & unseen, it might be easy to know that...
Otherwise it could be very difficult.
e.g. I put certain files on certain partitions according to type, so I know exactly WHAT KIND of files are on every partition.
E: holds music.
F: holds photo/movie images.
G: holds image backups and installation filesets.
So under normal circumstances I'd be OK to scan these [with chkdsk].

C: holds Windows, Programs, hibernation file, swap-file, registry & configuration files.
Hence, I cannot scan C: within Windows.

D: holds lots of personal data file that are used by programs.
e.g.
Emails and address book used by Outlook Express.
Favourites used by Internet Explorer.
Firefox Profile used by Firefox.
Desktop folder used by Windows.

Hmmm...
I'm just wondering if my understanding is incorrect, because I just tried to scan D: and C: with chkdsk and both WORKED! :confused:
My partitions are all FAT32.
I wonder if this is only a problem when the file system is NTFS?
I was sure I'd come across circumstances when [running within Windows] chkdsk wouldn't scan the C: or D: partition.
That's why I normally scan my FAT partitions outside of Windows, normally using "MS Scandisk" loaded from the "Emergency Boot CD" [EBCD].
That normally has no problem scanning, and it looks good, and works in a good way with nice controls. :)
It can scan NTFS & FAT partitions, but cannot fix [write to] NTFS, only FAT.

3. How to make a free EBCD bootable CD
http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=41485
I added a USB for DOS driver to mine so I could use the EBCD utilities on USB drives, but [for me] it has been only partially successful so far; some utilities work and sometimes some others freeze part way through an operation.

[Paul Komski]

chkdsk /f
This runs chkdsk with the /f switch on the system drive, almost certainly on the the C:\ drive. Chkdsk will show you which partition it is running on if you read its output with more care.

There should, in any case, be no need to run chkdsk on flash memory without good reason.

Perhaps you might post a pic of your DiskManagement Console?

[Revolver™]

To Sylvander: Ya, i'm sure my Flash Drive File system is FAT32, take a look at the following screenshot:

http://m1.freeshare.us/view/?163fs330737.jpg

To Paul : What do you mean by DiskManagement console? I'm sorry, i isn't very good in computing...

[Paul Komski]

What do you mean by DiskManagement console?

Try entering diskmgmt.msc in the run box

[Sylvander]

Did you go to...
"Start->Run->Open->cmd"
To run a command window and then type the command...
chkdsk f: /f

[Paul Komski]

I suggest you DO NOT run the /f or the /r switches on Flash Memory. Just get a report in read only mode with just chkdsk f: if you want to see what chkdsk finds before deciding on how you want anything rewritten to flash memory. I thought we had covered this in revolver's other recent thread as well another caution in post #6 in this very thread.

chkdsk /? will give you a description of all the various switches

[Sylvander]

Oops! Sorry about that. :(

I originally hadn't included the /f switch, but noticed Revolver wanted to use it and [incorrectly?] figured that would be OK.

[Revolver™]

Ok erm, firstly, this is the screenshot of the DiskManagement console mentioned.

DiskManagment Console: http://www.i-imagehost.com/uploads/17f7c5b50d.jpg
How does this help?

To Sylvander, ya, i tried typing cmd in the run box. And these are the following screenshots of it.
1. http://www.i-imagehost.com/uploads/ed3573d493.jpg
2. http://www.i-imagehost.com/uploads/fe069e1c5a.jpg

Is my thumbdrive ok now after running the cmd? I don't know if there's still any corruptions within the Thumby. And.... Why did the disk become write protected suddenly????? (This message appears when i tried to run Scandisk on F:)

[Sylvander]

"tried typing cmd in the run box. And these are the following screenshots of it"
Ouch, look at those will ya!
Image 1 shows a folder/directory [FOUND.001] has become disconnected ["lost"] from the file table.
That's probably the top folder in the hierarchy.
And image 2 shows lots of lost files [chains making up the files].
Those were probably in that top folder.
They will have been recovered and located in the root folder with names like FILE000.CHK
Can you view the contents of the Flash Drive?
Can you see all those recovered files?
If you know what kind of files they most probably are, you should rename them with an appropriate extension, and will then be able to "Open" them.
What kind of files are they do you think?
Normally I only ever have a very few of those [but never on the Flash Drive, only C: D:] and can afford to lose them.
Are these valuable? A great loss?
I normally have backups of everything, so can afford to lose the contents of this partition or that.
What was on your Flash Drive?

Now I see why Paul was saying not to run with the /f switch! :o

[Revolver™]

Mm so what should i do with the lost / disconnected file now? Actually that's not my flash drive, that's my friend's one. I need to help her out you see... and, ya, i did take a look of the contents inside the Flash drive. Most of them were doc., jpeg images and html files. Nothing much actually. So what's the solution to this matter now? Also, take a look at this:

http://img504.imageshack.us/my.php?image=screenshotdk5.jpg

Why did the Flash drive became write protected? I haven't even do anything to it...

[Sylvander]

1. "so what should i do with the lost / disconnected file now?"
There are a lot more than just a single file that have been "lost" and recovered.
If these files are not important, you could just delete or erase them.
If they are worth spending effort on to restore to their former usefulness...
You'd guess at what their 3 letter extension should be, and rename them with their correct extension and "Open" them.

2. "Why did the Flash drive became write protected? I haven't even done anything to it"
Is Windows Explorer displaying the contents of the drive?
That might cause this.
Just had a similar situation with a floppy disk.
Tried to "Erase" files on it and got a refusal to erase the single file that I'd right-clicked on.
Said something had it in use, and perhaps Windows Explorer was displaying it.
Managed to reformat it though.
Make sure that nothing whatever within Windows is doing ANYTHING with the drive.
Tried an experiment with my own Flash Drive.
Opened a Word document [on H:], then tried to scan H: and it scanned OK. :confused:
Thinking cap on. :eek:

[Paul Komski]

You are not alone with write protection on such drives.

http://www.techspot.com/vb/all/windows/t-18654-USB-Flash-Drive-Write-protection.html

Suggest you copy all files you don't want to lose from the flash drive. Then format the drive with the HP utility. Then copy the files back.

[Sylvander]

Where would one get a copy of the "HP Utility"? :)

[Revolver™]

Ok erm... i'm sure i my Window Explorer isn't doing anything to display the contents inside the drive while i tried to scan the Thumby. God, few mins ago, i tried to re-format the drive again... but it was nearly done, a message appears, saying: 'Windows was unable to complete the formating' or something like this, can't remember. Also, sometimes, when i tried to safety removed the thumby from the computer and plugged it into the computer, the file system of the thumby changed to 'Unknown'.
This is getting me crazy...

[Paul Komski]

I downloaded softpaq27213 very recently but it now doesn't seem to be available on the HP site. There's a google cache page (http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:EU32GQZ9K8MJ:h18000.www1.hp.com/support/files/serveroptions/us/download/20306.html+HP+Windows+Format+Utility+for+USB+Drive +Key+or+DiskOnKey&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=ie) to it but not much addition since the download link doesnt work.

sp27213 HP Windows Format Utility for USB Drive Key or DiskOnKey
sp27214 DOS-based Format Utility for HP Drive Key or DiskOnKey USB Device
sp27608 Windows-based Format Utility for HP Drive Key or DiskOnKey USB Device (substitutes 27213)

Perhaps HP will put it back soon. For the moment I could only find it zipped up HERE (http://www.geocities.com/cwwilson721/ntfs.htm).

[Paul Komski]

sp27608 seems to be available from http://www.freebsd.uwaterloo.ca/twiki/bin/view/NexusDocumentation/UsbNetworkBoot

I suppose it would be sensible to check that the file is signed by HP since its not coming from their site.

PS Also came across the following by Bart Lagerweij:- (http://www.collewijn.info/xpe/page/pe2usb.php)
Warning! Windows XP also provides a tool to format USB flash drives, but the results of that process are error-prone. In a worst case situation, it can even destroy the flash RAM in a USB flash drive.

[Revolver™]

Erm... i did according to what Mr Paul & Mr Sylvander said... i reformated the Flash Drive using HP utility. It was successful, but, there were some files inside the Flash drive after the re-formating:
http://www.i-imagehost.com/uploads/1855927702.jpg

Do i have to keep this files or... anyway, is the thumbdrive 100% ok now? No corrupution?

[Paul Komski]

I'm pretty sure that you have created a potentially bootable disk. Deleting the files should only affect bootability and not access.

Your drive has, if I remember, been OK before for a while after Windows has reformatted but we don't know the fundamental reason. Either the drive is unstable or its format or firmware were inappropriate. You will just have to wait and see. To check it out maybe nearly fill the drive with some large files and see if they can be accessed. Then delete them and see if the drive continues to function normally.

[Revolver™]

So basically, there wouldn't be any problems if i delete the files inside the flash drive now... is it right to say that? Bootability? The accessing and reading of files are referred by Accessibility, so what does Bootability means?

[Paul Komski]

HP deploys a number of UFD (USB Flash Disk) utilities and I suspect the one you downloaded is one of the more elaborate ones. As well as formally formatting the drives there are other metadata structures (data that is not files) that the utility can set up including the type of drive it is to emulate (floppy disk or hard drive) any partition tables and so forth.

Bear in mind that non-HP users are "hijacking" a utility designed for HP hardware and this includes support for upgrading the firmware on their own devices. I'm pretty sure that is what the whole collection of files relates to.

Bootability refers to the capabilility of booting to the flash drive. This requires that the motherboard supports it in the first place, that the device is set in the BIOS as the boot device and that the device has been prepared with an appropriate boot sector and boot files. It is the latter part that has been done to your device as well as putting on some files or programmes (I think) that could be run if the device could be booted to.

Deltete the files they are only confusing the issue and can be replaced if you really want to by going through the same sequence again.

[Revolver™]

Ok... so my flash drive is completely alright now is it?

[Paul Komski]

Only time will tell for sure. Test it out with some big file copies maybe.