On Sat, 23 Jun 2012 02:35:13 +0100, "Arfa Daily"
put finger to keyboard and composed:

Thanks for that explanation. I guess it's a possibility. The utility I tried
is called "Repair_v2.9.1.1.exe'

FWIW, this site appears to have a more recent version:
http://www.tcp.ac.th/downloads/Repair_v2.9.1.1.zip
http://www.tcp.ac.th/downloads/Repair_v2.9.1.8A.zip

I downloaded it from a website after Googling on "Flash drive says it is
write protected". Many of the hits that returned made reference to this
utility, and provided a link to the URL where it is to be found. Almost
everybody reported total success from using it, but there were a few cases
like mine, where it didn't work.

ISTM that this utility performs a low level format. Exactly what this
means in this particular case is unclear. I suspect it may just be a
zero-fill utility.

I guess I'm just going to have to buy a new one. They are not expensive.
It's just annoying to be beaten by something as simple as a corrupted file
structure. It has been suggested to me that there are Linux ways of forcing
a reformat, so I might have a mate of mine who is into Linux give it a go as
a last ditch attempt.

Arfa

AFAICS, if it were simply a case of a corrupted file structure, then
you still would have been able to wipe the drive.

Instead, it looks more like the failures reported at the following
Google hits:
http://www.google.com/search?q=ssd+%...%22worn+out%22

I'm assuming that USB flash drives and SSDs wear out in similar
fashion.

- Franc Zabkar
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