Sandisk USB seen as Local Disk instead of Removable Disk?

[MTDEW]

I have a Sandisk cruzer 16gb USB that I want to use as a windows boot disc.

The problem I'm having is this particular Sandisk is seen in windows as a Local Disk instead of a Removable Disc which makes it unrecognizable as a USB drive when trying to convert a windows iso to USB.

After some searching, I've found out this is due to being compatible with Windows 8.

Windows 8 Certification requires flash drive manufacturers to configure flash drives as fixed disks. Flash drives configured as fixed disk will show up in Windows Explorer as 'Hard Disk Drives'.

I tried diskpart and cleaning, but that didn't help, its still a local disk.

So how the heck do I convert this thing to be a Removable Disk so I can use it for booting win iso's?
Is it even possible?

note: just for clarity sake, Im using RMPPrepUSB and Easy2boot to create a USB with Win7,win 8.1, Acronis, Parted magic....etc...etc..
But even the Windows USB DVD/USB download doesn't recognize it since its technically a local disk drive not a removable USB drive. (you get an error saying no USB drive present)

The only thing Ive found is to prepare the Sandisk and use another "removable disk" USB drive as a "helper" USB flash drive and add the AutoUnattend.xml to that.
Well, that sucks, I don't want two usb flash drives, I want it all on one USB drive.

 

[jkauff]

I'll be interested to see what kind of answers you get here. I have two Sandisk Cruzer drives, one a few years old and one new. The new drive shows up as a fixed drive, while the older one shows up as removable. I could never figure out why.

One thing I've noticed is that USB flash card holders always show up as removable drives. You might want to go that route for future purchases.

 

[Cerb]

The above poster's got a good idea, there. Get one of those tiny captive (IE, holds the card in place) MicroSD to USB converters, and see how that does. IMO, get a Sandisk, Samsung, or Toshiba SD, so you won't have any chance of getting stuck with horrid random performance.

The removable/fixed disk issue stems back to 2k/XP treating fixed and removable disks very differently, based on assumptions that HDDs only were removed when the PC was powered off, and card reader/floppy drives, etc., were one big catch-all of other media. Today, every disk but the one the OS is running on is removable (I've been enjoying that since late 2007). It sucks that MS hasn't evolved Windows to simply not care about that bit, but you're just a user, so you don't matter enough to change the code.

 

[krose]

If I remember correctly, if you are booting from a fixed disk, you must add autounattend.xml to the image. Mount boot.wim with dism, then copy the xml file to the mounted image, then save the image, unmount and copy to your Cruzer. I didn't know that about newer Cruzers, will be sure to avoid them.

 

[WilliamM2]

I've avoided Sandisk ever since they used to put U3 Launchpad on all their drives, and you needed a special removal tool just to get rid of it. And now this? I can't imagine any use for a USB drive that's not removable.

 

[Cerb]

I can't imagine any use for a USB drive that's not removable.

It's quite removable. It is specifically a problem for (a) some Windows XP boxes, (b) making a bootable Windows installation on the USB drive, and (c) installing Windows 8 onto a USB drive.

The "fixed," and, "removable," parts are which way some specific bit is set, not whether you can unmount and eject it or not.

But, I really don't see why they didn't do like Lexar, and make a tool to change it. That would solve the problem for those that want to use it in a way that Windows needs a removable disk for, and it would be much easier than getting Microsoft to acknowledge that their rules from the 90s no longer apply. Ship it as fixed for the Win 8 logo, then let the user change it if they need to.

 

[MTDEW]

I really appreciate all the ideas.
I searched and searched and found absolutely no way to flip the bit on the Sandisk.

I gave up and just bought another flash drive while shopping this morning at our local Best Buy.
PNY isn't my first choice, but it was either that or another Sandisk lottery pick hoping for one that still shows up as a removable disk.
(Best Buy didn't exactly have a huge selection as usual.)
So PNY it is then.
At least it shows up as a removable disk!
So that finally solves my problem.

I won't forget this and avoid Sandisk from now on.
They could at least offer a way to change the drive from fixed to removable, but they don't.
And looking at the Sandisk forums, they have no intention of ever offering a way either.
So since Sandisk doesn't care about its users, then I no longer care for Sandisk flash drives.

 

[Mark91]

Sorry for bumping this old thread, but I'm facing this exact issue at the moment for the first time and have no clue on how to flip it back. Any ideas ? I don't wanna buy another flash drive just because this one acts like a local drive Anyone ?

 

[jalyst]

Sorry for bumping this old thread, but I'm facing this exact issue at the moment for the first time and have no clue on how to flip it back. Any ideas ? I don't wanna buy another flash drive just because this one acts like a local drive Anyone ?

I didn't "flip it back", but I was able to convert mine to a boot/install drive (Win10) by using Rufus, I can't recall exactly what it does OTTOMH, but it does something such that it's not an issue any more.

You just need to ensure your UEFI (similar to BIOS) is set-up to boot from USB before SSD, & then ensure secure-boot is disabled, then once everything is installed you can re-enable secure-boot.

(this is if your Windows device uses a fairly modern UEFI set-up i.e I have a SurfcePro3).

 

[nishith]

Rufus will do it.
Otherwise just go to command prompt by diskpart. then type

list disk--> ENTER

select disk (num value; eg: 1 or 2 or 3)-->ENTER(select your pendrive here)

list partition-->ENTER

select partition(num value; eg: 1 or 2 or 3)-->ENTER(select your partition here)

delete partition-->ENTER

create partition (here you can type any format other than logical)

Just do this and enjoy!!

 

[Soulkeeper]

From what i've heard this is just a matter of how the usb drives are partitioned.
Apparently sandisk was making them one way and switched at some point.
You can always repartition and mark the partition bootable.

This problem is on lots of the amazon posts.
I came accross this issue when trying to find out the difference between SDCZ80-064G-X46 and SDCZ80-064G-G46
G being the newer one with the only difference being the partitioning
http://www.amazon.com/forum/-/TxXYJ5XUO0Z8YY/ref=ask_dp_dpmw_al_hza?asin=B00DZPUOUI