List of USB Flash Drives with Hardware Write Protection Switch Fencepost Software Consulting. Frequently when troubleshooting or cleaning PCs ah, the joys of small business IT its useful to have a bundle of tools that you can use. I generally use multiboot antivirus CDs created with Shardana Antivirus Rescue Disc Utility SARDU with additional utilities put in the Extras directory, but sometimes its hard to beat the convenience of a USB flash drive. Unfortunately very few flash drives still have the hardware write protect switch that was common years ago. Heres a listing of drives that still include that hardware write protection, along with some other options that might work though not as well. This listing is based on reports from several discussion boards in 2. Magazine German or via Google Translate. Where available I provide links to the manufacturers and possibly to stores where the drives are available. Please comment with any corrections or additional drives to be added to the list. USB Flash Drives with Hardware Write Protection. There are currently only seven models from four manufacturers readily available in the USA I dont have good data for whats available outside the USA but will include any drives that Im aware of regardless of US availability. Links to online suppliers are at the end of this article. There can be wide variations in speed between drives e. USB Flash Drive Comparison 2. Tested and Compared, which does not include any of the drives listed here but is informative, so check speed ratings and reviews where available. I mention some speed tests reported to USB Flash Drive Speed Tests below, if you have a flash drive feel free to check that website, test the drive and report the results. There is a list with links to online stores that carry these drives at the end of this article. Drives not included in that list are ones that I didnt find online sellers for. The stores used are Amazon, Newegg and the multi store aggregator Google Products. I have found very few of these drives in retailphysical stores. Ive seen the Imation Clip in a few places that catered to students and the Imation Pivot and Swivel both older model and newer are carried in the CDW showroom near Chicago beyond that I have not found the other drives locally available. The national computer Tiger. DirectComp. USA, Frys and electronics Best Buy chains dont list most of these drives as available online and for the most part dont seem to carry many drives from these manufacturers at all Tiger. I/41IeyInspaL._SL500_AC_SS350_.jpg' alt='Buffalo Hard Drive Usb Driver' title='Buffalo Hard Drive Usb Driver' />DirectComp. USA carries the Kanguru Defender Elites. Hama. The Hama Flash. Pen Fancy 2. GB, 4. GB, 8. GB, 1. 6GB appears to be primarily available in Europe. ProductImage/22-165-570-08.jpg' alt='Buffalo Hard Drive Usb Driver' title='Buffalo Hard Drive Usb Driver' />Only the 1. GB gives speed figures, and its read speed of 6. MBsec seems low. According to ct link above these are the same as the Trek. Stor USB Stick CS described below. Warning Note Based on the experiences April 2. Hama drives are incorrect and only a small percentage have a write protect switch. Its not clear to me whether this also applies to the Trek. Portable hard drives from Ebuyer. What is a portable hard drive A portable hard drive is a device that is connected to a computer by USB and is used to store data. The DriveStation is an easy to use, 1drive storage solution for the easy addition of external storage to any device using a USB port. With USB 3. 0 support and. Pokemon Game For Full Version. Stor drive its possible that the early Hama drives were resold Trek. Stor drives and the later ones are manufactured separately. Imation. Imation has two product lines with write protection switches, the Pivotnow discontinued and the Clip. These should be widely available online and might be available in some stores. The Pivot appears to be the physically smallest of the available drives with write protection the Clip is smaller and will fit tighter spaces but has a large protective carrier. The Pivot Plus does not list a hardware write protect switch on the website but does in the brochure it also utilizes hardware based encryption that may cause it to be incompatible with non Windows systems. Imations Swivel not Swivel Pro line used to have a write protect switch but it appears to have been removed on the current versions. The older versions have a graysilver body, a dark swivel and a small LED on the side opposite the write protect switch the newer version without the write protect switch has a black body, a black swivel and a LED in the center. Note that the Swivel Pro line resembles the older Swivel line but has a LED in the center and does not have a write protect switch. Because of this change I do not recommend purchasing the Swivel online unless youve seen a picture of the actual product youre getting. Girly Games For Pc. Imations Defender line claims protection against malware in some models, but that appears to be based on requiring Windows or Mac encryption software to even access the drive. Basic Serial Port Programming In C more. The user guide for the Defender F1. F1. 50 does not mention hardware write protection, only the encryption software. The Defender F5. 0 Pivot flash drive might have a hardware write protection switch the Imation website shows a picture with one but does not mention it in the drive specifications searches for the Defender F5. I cant recommend purchasing sight unseen. Imation does not provide readwrite speed information on their website. Third party testing of a 1. GB Clip indicated a read speed of 1. MBsec and a write speed of 6. MBsec. Kanguru. The Kanguru Flash. Blu 2 includes a write protect switch on the side. Capacity up to 1. GB, read speed up to 2. MBsec and write speed up to 1. MBsec. The older Flash. Blu drives silver instead of blue might have a switch based on the answer to a knowledgebase question, but theres no other information about them online. Some vendors may still have the older drives. Kangurus Defender Elite includes a write protect switch and hardware encryption, but may not be compatible with all operating systems if encryption is used. Its not clear whether it can be used without the encryption, but its expensive for a plain flash drive because youre paying for the encryption hardware. The Defender Elite lists read speeds of 2. MBsec 2. 0 3. 3 for 3. GB and write speeds of 1. MBsec. PQIUpdate 2. Only the base U3. PQIs other USB flash drives appear to have a write protect switch. All of the other drives with switches are listed as discontinued by retailers and have disappeared from the PQI website. Most of PQIs U3. U3. U3. 39. XT, U3. Pro, U3. H and U3. S but NOT including the U3. V has a write protect switch in the endcap. Ive seen cautions that the switch is somewhat fragile, and it may not be well labeled but With PQI logo facing upwards puch the switch to the right to prevent write delete. PQI does not provide complete speed information on their website. The U3. 39. XT is listed as having a read speed up to 3. MBsec and a write speed up to 5. MBsec. The U3. 39 Pro is listed as having a read speed up to 3. MBsec and a write speed up to 2. MBsec. The U3. 39. H is described as having dual channel technology and being one of the fastest USB flash drives currently on the market but does not provide actual speed information. The U3. 39. V USB 3. GB does not list a write protect switch in its features, and no switch is visible in the photos they provide. RITEKRi. DATA EZDrive Slider ID1. Twister ID1. 5 models both have write protection switches. The Twisters appears to be on the side of the drive the Sliders appears to be next to the slider button which means its protected when the slider is closed. Reviews of these are mixed, Ive seen complaints about write speed so check the stats or reviews first if youre going to be moving a lot data. RITEK does not provide speed information on their website.