Flash Drive

[jogartrago]

I recently purchased a package of flash drives at a bargain price, When I try to access(Launch) the drive I get the following message:
"Your version of Windows is not supported by the U3 Launch Pad on this drive. Supported versions are Windows XP and 2000. Your U3 smart drive will still work as a regular flash drive. If you have set password protection on this drive from another machine you must remove the password protection before it will work on your machine."

I never set password protection on the newly purchased flash drive.
I tried to format the drive and was advised that it was write protected.
Is there a way for me to utilize the drive(s) in question for storing files?
Incidentally, my OS is Microsoft Vista Premium Version

[nuz]

Try creating a text file filled with gibberish and see if you can copy it into the drive. If yes, can you open it from there, copy it elsewhere and delete it. If not I suggest you test the rest of them and return if they behave the same way.

See: http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=64572

[jogartrago]

Test doc would not copy on to flash drive. Don't understand remainder of your suggestion

[nuz]

Which part? The written part is irrelevant, now that we know the drive is not accessible. The link goes to another thread on this forum. When I had a similar problem, I had plenty of test software recommended to me. Go to the thread and see if one of them works for you.
Personally, I'd contact the seller and ask for a replacement or refund.

[Paul Komski]

U3 drives are partitioned into a data partition and a virtual CDROM and can be problematic on certain PCs. You can try converting it to a normal flash drive (http://windowssecrets.com/support-alert/2007/09/13/21-How-to-convert-a-U3-flash-drive-to-a-normal-drive). If you manage that you should be able to format the drive from windows or by using the HP Utililty (http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&mode=3&taskId=135&swItem=MTX-UNITY-I23839).

[jogartrago]

Thanx for suggestion on converting to normal flash drive. That will work for me.