I think I've found a workaround for this problem. I say "workaround" because it basically involves changing a few things from their default settings, which doesn't really solve the problem so much...

I've read that the problem may be caused by the fact that I'm using a hard drive that was formatted in XP with Vista. If this is the case, is there any way to correct this problem without actually...

I'm an idiot...here's why:

I found a tool called "Thumbscrew (http://www.irongeek.com/i.php?page=security/thumbscrew-software-usb-write-blocker)" that switches storage devices' write protection on...

Hello again,

I've read through the Western Digital website's support pages (nothing relevant was there) and I also contacted them through their website about the problem. So, let's see what they...

Update: The drive now remains write protected even after several reboots, and even when I boot into Safe Mode.

Please tell me this isn't a hardware fault haha, I already had to get my last drive...

Following the instructions given in the URL you provided didn't help the problem when it arose again.

Any other ideas? haha

I have a few other bits of info that might help identify the problem:...

Interesting! I haven't had the problem since I posted here (it happened several times over the course of a week prior to my original post), but I'll bookmark your URL and check to see if the...

My external Western Digital Elements 500GB USB drive occasionally sets itself to "Write Protected" and I can't alter any of the files on the drive until I reboot and the write protection is reset. ...

My replacement came last week, and I managed to copy across most of my files from the old drive (I had to do it file by file, which took some time...very frustrating). I'm currently wiping the old...

Guess what? *rolls eyes* It's sort of working, but it's still very temperamental. For instance, installations of software from the drive will stop half way and ask to be directed to the...

You're not going to believe this...I think I nailed the problem, and it's so stupid that I feel like crying. I first had the idea of unplugging my printer from the USB, because I got my printer a...

I tried partitioning the hard drive, but it failed at around 30 seconds into it. The drive wouldn't show up after that, so I went to the Disk Management options and had to reassign a drive letter.
...

I decided to check the Event Viewer to see if anything shows up, and I get hundreds of errors relating to my USB drive (I'm assuming it's this drive - in Disk Management the drive is "Disk 1", and...

A quick update. I upgraded my BIOS to the latest version, hoping that maybe this would correct the issue, but it did not.

I'm stumped!

The problem is the same as before, in that the drive disappears then reappears as an "unformatted" drive. I can't even scan it with chkdsk when it's in this state.

The drive is 500GB, and I...

False alarm - the problem came back :(

God dammit.

I'm not sure what the problem was exactly, but a reinstall of Windows solved it. I tried a repair install first, and like you predicted mechbas it didn't suffice (and in fact seemed to cripple my...

Haha you have no idea how tempted I am to do that, but unfortunately this is a family PC and I can't be bothered teaching my folks how to use a new operating system when they can barely use Windows!...

This gives me hope for my little HD; if it works in Ubuntu then surely it's a Windows issue. I wonder has something become corrupted in our systems...I got a Trojan recently (successfully eradicated...

My external hard drive has been acting very strangely for the past few days, and I can't figure out what the problem is. The drive disappears intermittently from my system, then reappears as an...

False alarm! After reinstalling Windows my hard drive letters got rearranged, I just didn't notice hehe.

Perhaps a mod could delete this thread?

Oppsie.

I reinstalled Windows XP Pro SP2 today, and after rebooting and getting everything set up, I tried to use my BitTorrent client, "BitComet". The program wouldn't download anything, because there...

My DVD drive doesn't seem to recognise DVD -R format discs, but it supports DVD +R discs just fine. Is there any way that I can update or alter my drive so that it will accept the DVD -R variety? ...

I found an article on Micro$oft's website which fixed my problem. It has nothing to do with my divers, as the Device Manager led me to believe, it is a couple of registry keys which are bad little...

For some unknown reason my DVD-RW drive is now invisible in My Computer, and the Device Manager tells me that the drivers are either corrupted or damaged. I have searched for about the last 30...