What you're seeing is actually a classic dying USB flash drive symptom. The important clue is this:
"attributes disk clear readonly" says success
but "clean" instantly returns write-protected again
That usually means the readonly flag is not the real problem. The controller firmware inside the USB stick is forcing the drive into a permanent read-only safety mode because NAND writes are failing.
In other words:
the USB can still be read
but the controller refuses further writes to prevent total data corruption
This is extremely common with aging flash drives.
Why DiskPart "lies" here?
"attributes disk clear readonly" only clears the software-level readonly attribute stored in Windows/disk metadata.
But there are multiple layers of write protection:
1. Software readonly (fixable)
This is the easy one:
</> cmd
attributes disk clear readonly
2. Sometimes Windows mounts the filesystem readonly because it's damaged.
3. Controller-level readonly (bad news)
This is the killer.
The USB controller itself decides: "writes are unsafe now".
At that point:
DiskPart fails
formatting fails
deleting files fails
registry tweaks fail
"clean" fails instantly
...and Windows keeps reporting write protection no matter what.
Before declaring it dead, you could test these things
Try another machine
Not just another USB port.
Sometimes:
endpoint security
BitLocker policies
corporate GPOs
antivirus USB protection
can silently force readonly behavior.
If it's readonly on multiple PCs/OSes: much more likely hardware failure.
Check if the disk is reporting readonly at hardware level
In DiskPart:
</> cmd
diskpart
list disk
select disk 2
attributes disk
If you see:
Current Read-only State : Yes
Read-only : No
That's a huge red flag.
It means:
Windows itself did NOT set readonly
the device is reporting readonly underneath the OS
That usually points to firmware/controller failure.
You can try forcing a repartition
Sometimes corrupted partition tables confuse Windows.
Try:
</> cmd
diskpart
list disk
select disk 2
clean
create partition primary
format fs=exfat quick
But honestly, if "clean" itself fails instantly: this probably won't help.
My honest suggestion
If:
multiple PCs show readonly
DiskPart "clean" instantly fails
no physical switch exists
files remain readable but undeletable
I'd put money on:
the flash controller has permanently locked the drive readonly because the NAND is worn out or failing.
At that point, recovery is usually:
copy data off immediately
replace the USB drive
Not really worth heroic repair attempts unless the data matters a lot.
One last thing
DO NOT keep retrying full formats/wipes endlessly.
On failing flash memory, repeated write attempts can accelerate total death. If the files matter, copy them off now while the controller still allows reads.
