Hello Friends,

For some time now as well as saving my work on the "C" drive I have also saved it on my USB memory sticks with no problems up to now. Lately when I attempt to save my work I get a message telling me that "I can not save file as the location I want to save to is right protected". Can somebody help me to solve this problem please.

Regards,

Henry.

This is a difficult question to answer and will require more information more than likely.. but for some help You could try a few things
1: someone might be messing with you ask around your work and make sure your friends didn't do something because that would be silly to get worked up about something you think is serious when really its just your friends
2: you might have accidentally saved your documents as protected or read only that would cause them to be unmovable ( Try moving or saving your work to a different drive and tell me what happens)
3: make sure that your usb is plugged in all the way
4: or maybe your computer is off... is the screen black and unresponsive?:p

The first thing to check is whether you put the write protect on. Many flash drives have a slide switch to protect the drive.

If that's not the issue, can you read files from the drive? Have you tried taking it to a different PC> If som what happened?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by darKshade360

1, 2, 3, 4

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Of your 4 points only #2 has any value and even that is one is unlikely to be the problem.

We take pride in the quality of the advice given here, Please take more care to post accurate answers.

I thought saving directly to my USB drive was "cool" too until one day a save operation nuked the file I was working on completely.

Since that day, I never work FROM a USB drive with critical docs. I work on the HD, then copy to the USB when I'm ready to go portable.

Just sharing my experience, something to chew on. Are you able to work on the same file(s) directly from your HD? Can you copy files to/from the drive OK?

Good Morning JBeaucaire, ScottGem, Darkshade360,

Thank you for your points of view. The nearest point made to my problem is from JBeaucaire. I am indeed working of my hard drive the "C" drive the problem arises when I try to save work to the USB drive. I am then informed that the destination is write protected. ScottGem I have tried three different USB sticks and the result is the same I can't save my work to them. What I want to do is save my work to the USB drive and then transfer the content to my laptop. I have done this countless times before up to now. Also I want to have it saved safely on the USB drive in case my "C" drive fails. I thank you all.
Best Regards,
Murph20003.

Do the drives work in another PC. If so, then the problem may be your USB port. Have you tried different ports?

Hi ScottGem,

That works. I connected the USB drive to my laptop and I was able to save from the hard drive to the USB removable drive. So like you say the problem is with the USB ports on my desktop computer I have tried three of them with the same result. Scott can you advise me please on how to deal with the faulty USB ports.
Regards Murph20003.

Do you know if they are 1.1 or 2.0 ports (how old is the desktop?). You can try reloading drivers for them. Or you might need to get a new card.

I just restate, I would always do the opposite of what you're suggesting. Computer HDs are far more robust than USB thumb drives. To want to work "from" the USB in case the HD were unreliable is backwards in my experience.

I would work on the desktop as a desktop, HD and all. Then I would QUIT Excel, copy the files to the USB drive using Windows Explorer, and then onto the laptop the same way.

I would not work "from" the USB drive, even when working portable on my laptop. I've lost 3 critical files that way with the exact behavior(s) you're experiencing now. Not worth the risk.

Regular HDs are more reliable so I would always work from there first.

Hi JB,
If you take another look at my original mail you will see that I am doing just as you state. I always work from the "C" drive (Hard Disk) and then I use the removable drives to have another copy on a separate location just in case the hard disk fails on my desktop computer. Also I can save my work from my desktop to my laptop via the USB memory sticks/drives. The problem is that I can not save from my hard disk to the removable drive because of the issue which I have presently. That is I am being given the error message that the location is write protected.
M20003.

[QUOTE=ScottGem;1544436]Do you know if they are 1.1 or 2.0 ports (how old is the desktop?). You can try reloading drivers for them. Or you might need to get a new card.

Good Morning ScottGem,

I appreciate your genuine efforts to help me with my problems. The computer a Dell Dimension 5000. It is approximately three years old. I use it in my home office. I am completing some financial returns for an organisation which I belong to. I am using Microsoft Excel because I can use financial formulas etc. I need to save my work to these memory sticks periodically for safety reasons. I am not sure if the drivers are 1.1 or 2.0. By clicking on the properties tag I am getting 5.1.2535.0. Any help?

Thanking you again.

Best Regards,

M20003.

What version of Windows?

Hi ScottGem,

Its Windows XP Home Edition, Version 2002, Service Pack 3.

Regards,

Murph.

FYI, the USB driver on my system is:

5.1.2600.2180 - 7/1/2001

Sorry Darkshade, {Ed Note: personal attack removed} this isn't an opinion forum, though there are plenty of those in the relationships section. Even the OP judged your post mostly irrelevant.

The technical advise given on this forum is scrutinized heavily, and ScottGem is one of the Forum moderators/admins. Everything posted here is his business, as noted by the "Expert" designation in his title. That, along with 27,000 posts is proof of his credentials, credentials you lack on this forum so far.

You get no support "New Member" for coming here, posting ill-thought out advice, then attacking the correct scrutiny of your post. No points at all.

If you want to "show us", then keep the opinions to yourself and post some more answers to other questions that ARE well thought out and relevant.

That will show us.

Since the usb port was working before, then suddenly had an error, I would look at anything that changed, i.e. a windows update to your computer; a registry change; a path change. Have you tried a system restore to the point before the error? Also, for when you get this fixed, I use erunt, a program to backup your registry automatically, every day. The restore from that is more simple than system restore.

Not that I think it needs doing, but if your USB drive has gotten "iffy", there's a small sect of people who think reformatting the drive will get it back in shape. You can accomplish that in Disk Management, found:

Right click My Computer
Select Manage
Select Disk Management

Hope it's not necessary, but it's another route.

How do you Format a RAW USB Flash Drive under WinXP - TechSpot OpenBoards