Can't Format Memory Stick

Sometimes you may get an error when trying to use a memory stick and attempting to format the drive gets the following error message:

"The disk is write protected."

Unless the disk is actual damaged and no longer working it still may be possible to format it by doing the following:

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type diskpart and press Enter.

2. If you receive a User Account Control prompt asking for permission to continue, click Yes.

3. At the DISKPART> prompt, type list disk and press Enter.

This will list all of the memory devices including the computers internal hard drive. Use the disk size to determine which one is your USB flash drive. In this example (shown below), we know that Disk 1 is our USB flash drive because its size is 4 GB (here listed as 3864MB).

4. Type select disk 1.

5. Type attributes disk clear readonly.

6. Type clean.

7. Type create partition primary.

Decide which type of format to use, either fat32 or ntfs. We will use ntfs here.

8. Type format fs=ntfs quick. This disk is now formatted and ready to use.

Or you can watch this video.