The story is there is a file on the drive autorun.inf file, which contains a nasty trojan virus. I can not though any means delete the thing as it has write protected the stick. There is no write protection button btw. Have tried

- normal format

- Disk Management

- Shredding with a 3rd party software

- command prompt format

all come up with nothing but Write Protected..... if I could just get in there.

The autorun inf file won't even show up in the explorer, the virus checker can't fix it. I'm at a bit of a loss really, any suggestions?

Oz

Edited February 12, 200917 yr by ozsamurai

Low level format from a DOS boot or use a linux tool like the gparted boot CD ??

Have you tried the manufacturer of the Thumb drive?

Sometimes you can download a program for just such a situation.

The story is there is a file on the drive autorun.inf file, which contains a nasty trojan virus. I can not though any means delete the thing as it has write protected the stick. There is no write protection button btw. Have tried

- normal format

- Disk Management

- Shredding with a 3rd party software

- command prompt format

all come up with nothing but Write Protected..... if I could just get in there.

The autorun inf file won't even show up in the explorer, the virus checker can't fix it. I'm at a bit of a loss really, any suggestions?

Oz

Try it with this free utility. It helped me very much and solved an issue as you described. It might work for you as well.

http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

Unlocker has failed

I have sent a request in to the Kingston site, but no reply

I have tried a format from Ubuntu, but still no joy there either.

Good side is if I ever want to trash someone's hdd, then this is the one you want to keep....lol

Oz

Unlocker has failed

I have sent a request in to the Kingston site, but no reply

I have tried a format from Ubuntu, but still no joy there either.

Good side is if I ever want to trash someone's hdd, then this is the one you want to keep....lol

Oz

done a quick Google search. The first link is quite interesting:

http://www.whoismadhur.com/2008/01/26/how-...rom-usb-drives/

http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-22846-h...orun-inf-for-su

Edited February 12, 200917 yr by webfact

Might try this tool > HP USB Disk Format tool. It's also possible the virus produced a GPT partition which can be a pain to remove.

Just thinking,

Do you have the Kingston software drivers etc. that came with the 4gb Usb Thumb Drive still with you? perhaps these could un-lock the drive?

Had a problem before on someones Kingston 1gb showing only 1/4 of the drive as the rest was locked and worked around to un-lock the rest of the it.

Yours truly,

Kan Win

done a quick Google search. The first link is quite interesting:

http://www.whoismadhur.com/2008/01/26/how-...rom-usb-drives/

http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-22846-h...orun-inf-for-su

Some good links one I had not found on google, followed the procedure using attrib -r-a -s -h as before in the cmd prompt, but it couldn't still unlock the files, so formatting or deleting was out of the question.....

Might try this tool > HP USB Disk Format tool. It's also possible the virus produced a GPT partition which can be a pain to remove.

Was hopeful, but nope, it wont format until the write prtection is removed.

Thanks all for trying....

Oz

can gparted not nuke it ??

Does it have any data you want to hang onto on it? If not, stamp on it and throw it away. A 4GB thumbstick is worth pennies.

I have tried a format from Ubuntu, but still no joy there either.

Beginning to sound like firmware/hardware to me.

Well, I think your stick's gone tits up. Not worth spending further time on IMO.

Agreed! Its just I hate to give up on these things, its not the money, its was the challenge.

Thanks All

oz

If you still haven't fixed the problem then try this > Flash Disinfector