I have a USB thumb drive (flash drive) that’s plugged into my computer, but I cannot save any files to it. When I try, I get a message stating that the destination “may be full or write protected.”
This error message is giving you some hints as to the cause of the problem, so you should investigate them. First make sure your thumb drive is not filled to capacity – go to My Computer, right-click on the removable drive icon (the drive letter should be something like D:, E: or F:) and select Properties. A new window will pop up and show you a pie chart indicating how much free vs. used space you have on your usb drive. If it’s filled to capacity, browse to the drive and delete any unecessary files. If you all your files are necessary then your only solution may be to buy a second usb drive.
If the usb drive is not full, then it may be write-protected. Safely remove the drive from your system and examine it for any sliding switches or buttons. If you are able to find one it’s most likely for write-protection, so switch it to the next position, plug in the drive and try to save your file again.
Caution! Whenever you detach a USB drive from your computer, you should safely remove it from the system before you physically unplug it.
