How to clear current “read-only” state on a USB flash drive I setup with Rufus

If none of the other suggested answers here work, then your USB flash drive is probably going bad.

There is a controller chip on the USB stick that manages the flash memory. If the flash controller detects any kind of unrecoverable error with the memory cells (a reallocation failure, for example), then it trips a safety condition and makes the drive read-only at the firmware level to protect your data.

Unfortunately, there is no way to get the drive out of this condition without the factory software for your drive. Flash drive manufacturers do not make this software available to the public, so the only way to get it is from Chinese hack sites.

Your only option here is to replace it. The top brands (Kingston, SanDisk, Lexar, etc.) provide lifetime warranties on their products. I have no idea how to go about getting that warranty though. But with flash drive prices being what they are, it's probably better to just go buy a new one -- unless it's a really nice one.

Your USB drive isn't ruined; it simply needs a new primary partition. This can easily be fixed in DISKPART using the CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY command.

From DISKPART (Run with Administrator Priveleges)

1. Type LIST DISK and hit ENTER

2. Find the usb disk number in the menu (identifiable by it's size), then type SELECT DISK (corresponding number) and hit ENTER

3. From here, type CLEAN, then hit ENTER

4. At this point you should convert your disk to whichever partition format you desire (MBR for older "legacy" BIOS setups or GPT for newer UEFI-boot operating systems, respectively) by entering CONVERT (GPT or MBR)

5. Then type CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY, and hit ENTER

6. Type EXIT,

   Windows Explorer should now recognize your filesystem, and you'll be able to format the disk successfully without any error messages.

Cheers!