Japan has long been a major supplier of three key elements used in the manufacturing of NAND memory and semiconductors. Due to recent trade tensions between Japan and South Korea, these materials are becoming increasingly difficult to obtain.

Japan produces roughly 90% of the world’s supply of fluorinated polyimide and photoresists, along with about 70% of the global supply of hydrogen fluoride. This concentration places the global supply chain at risk if Japan restricts exports of these materials.

These chemicals are used by Korean manufacturers to produce semiconductors and are critical for making components such as memory chips, microprocessors, and integrated circuits.

The impact is already visible. For the first time in more than eight months, NAND memory pricing for flash drives has increased. While the percentage increase varies by capacity, the most notable jumps are in 32GB and 64GB wafers, which rose nearly 25% week over week at the time this article was published on July 25.

Japan has cited inadequate management of these chemicals by purchasing countries. Put another way, the materials can also be used in the manufacture of military weapons, and Japan claims some supplies have been diverted for that purpose. Japan’s response has been to impose restrictions on exports.

Who ultimately loses in this trade dispute? Anyone who relies on modern technology. Smartphones, processors, flash memory, circuit boards, and countless other products depend on a stable semiconductor supply chain.

For a more detailed and source-based report, visit this CNBC article.

To learn more about polyimide chemicals, a quick overview is available on this Wikipedia page.

What can you get with a 3D printer and plenty of flash drives? A hedgehog USB holder. With more than 200 downloads, head over to Thingiverse to grab the 3D printable template. The hedgehog design appears to hold roughly 15 USB devices.

Just finished print a hedgehog usb holder! Much easier way to keep all of these organized then thrown in my draw! Next up is a really cool bearing system! pic.twitter.com/dbtkv6Dn97

— SteeleEgg 3D (@Steeleegg3) July 2, 2019

What do you call a bee born in the United States? A USB.

When the person who invented the USB drive dies: They will lower the coffin into the grave and realize it’s the wrong direction. Flip it, and try again.

Why do people complain about plugging in USB cables? I always connect them on my second try.

Amazon offers a USB-powered taillight: It’s used to back up your computer.

Arguing with your wife is like a USB port: You will only be right 50% of the time.

I ate my USB flash drive: It only took 1 byte.

If you are carrying around a USB stick: Do you have mobile data?

What do you call a USB stick in Russia? A “Put-in.”

The USB Type-C design is brilliant: I can’t see a downside to it.

How do you stop an elephant from charging? Take away its USB cable.

Thanks to these guys for inspiration.

These are 1450mAh AA batteries that recharge directly through a standard USB port.

This is how more digital devices should be designed. I am not a fan of products, such as portable speakers, becoming unusable simply because an internal battery can no longer hold a charge. A replaceable battery design is far more practical than throwing away an otherwise functional device.

At the time of writing, a four-pack of these AA batteries sells for about $35, which comes out to just under $10 per battery.

The manufacturer claims the batteries support up to 500 charge cycles. Even if that number is optimistic and real-world use delivers closer to 250 cycles, the long-term value still makes sense.

They also state the batteries last two to three times longer than standard disposable AA batteries, which is likely tied to the 1.2V NiMH (nickel metal hydride) cell technology used inside.

The TiSTICK is currently available on Kickstarter. Below is a quick summary update for those who may be interested.

The flash drive features a titanium case built for durability, AES 256-bit hardware encryption, multiple high-capacity storage options, and is nearing full funding on Kickstarter.

We like the overall shape, the magnetic tail design, and the industrial look. The branding and presentation are well done and clearly set the TiSTICK apart from other so-called “durable” flash drives. Credit where it’s due to Jörg Lingg for the execution.

In our humble opinion, the design may be a bit overkill, but that is purely subjective. The comparison below shows a more conventional aluminum flash drive that has survived being run over multiple times by a car and still functions properly using an Alcor controller with encryption support.

Why is my USB write protected? (Updated for Windows 11 Fixes)

USB write protected means the USB cannot be written to. But why does this happen? There can be several reasons, ranging from a corrupted flash drive to software settings in Windows that lock the device.

Originally posted in 2015, this article is now updated for modern systems, including Windows 10 and Windows 11, which introduce additional security layers that can cause USB write protection issues.

Hardware or Device Failure

It’s easy to damage a USB stick. A common cause is sending multiple write threads to the device at the same time. For example, copying large files while issuing another write command may corrupt the controller, leaving it permanently locked.

Windows Registry and Security Settings

Windows can mark a USB drive as write-protected due to policy settings or errors. Here’s how to remove this restriction on Windows 10 and Windows 11:

• Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
• Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\StorageDevicePolicies
• If WriteProtect exists, double-click it and set the value to 0. If it doesn’t exist, create a new DWORD (32-bit) entry named WriteProtect and set it to 0.
• Restart your PC and reconnect the USB drive.

Using Diskpart Command (Windows 11)

Windows 11 offers an advanced command-line tool to clear write protection:

diskpart
list disk
select disk #
attributes disk clear readonly
exit

Replace # with your USB drive number.

Windows Security – Ransomware Protection

Windows 11’s Controlled Folder Access can block external writes. Disable or adjust this setting via: Settings > Privacy & Security > Windows Security > Virus & threat protection > Ransomware protection.

File System Repair

If the drive is corrupted, run:

chkdsk E: /f

(replace E: with your USB letter). This may fix read/write errors without losing data.

Manufacturer Tools

Brands like SanDisk, Kingston, or Nexcopy provide utilities to reset a locked USB device or reformat at a controller level.

Conclusion

Write protection errors are often recoverable and not always caused by hardware failure. With the new features in Windows 11, additional troubleshooting steps may be required before discarding a drive.

---

FAQ

Q: How do I remove USB write protection in Windows 11?
A: Use Registry Editor, Diskpart, or adjust Ransomware Protection settings to allow writes.

Q: Does Windows Defender block USB writes?
A: Yes, in some cases Controlled Folder Access can block external USB writes. Adjust settings to resolve this.

It’s a good question; format a USB flash drive as exFAT or NTFS? There are several reasons not to format as NTFS and we’ll explain.

Most of the Time you are Okay

Most of the time, formatting a flash drive is a very simple decision. There are only two situations where you should carefully consider what format to use. Here are the details:

Note: This article is focused on Windows and Mac operating systems.

The file formats available for a USB flash drive are:

• FAT (also called FAT16)
• FAT32
• exFAT
• NTFS
• HFS (Mac only)

Flash drive manufacturers typically format a drive as either FAT or FAT32. Any device of 2GB or smaller will be formatted as FAT, and any USB over 2GB will be formatted as FAT32.

These two formats are the best file systems for removable drives like USB flash drives because they support quick disconnect functionality. Chances are very slim that you will destroy the device or files if you unplug the USB without using the Eject function (in Windows) or the Un-mount function (in Mac).

The one huge limitation with FAT and FAT32 is the single file size limit. If a single file is larger than 2GB, you need FAT32. If you have a single file bigger than 4GB, you must use NTFS or exFAT. Typically, these large files are video files or restore image files (for restoring a computer operating system from a single image file).