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Does anybody have experience with a CRU USB Media Writeblocker?

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We recently purchased a CRU USB Media Writeblocker -- we liked the price and the ability to put SD cards directly into the writeblocker.  BUT we are unable to get it to read drives (we've tried several drives on several computers -- all running Windows 7) and neither we nor the manufacturer can't figure out what's going on.  Either the computer doesn't recognize that anything has been plugged in at all, or it says that there is a problem with the drive and it cannot be read.

Has anybody else experienced something similar, or know of some sort of setting that may be causing the issue?  Is there something silly I'm forgetting to do?  Any advice/thoughts welcome.

asked by sarah.barsness on 2 Dec 2014 · 874 views
  • I appreciate your sharing of experiences below and will know to avoid the one you described entirely.
    Not exactly the answer to the question, but somewhat related: in reviewing write-blocker (Amazon), it is tempting to get a different item. I had this temptation a while ago and thanks to your answer below, I now see it is a safer bet to stay with well-known brands, such as Tableau--I don't get in advertising $ from them, though :-)

    The tableau "black" write-blockers (blockers-only) seem reasonable compared to the yellow ones (writers and blockers), when the critical goal is to block writing.
    — tibaut.houzanme, 9 Jan 2015

1 answer

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Answering my own question here, for anybody else looking at purchasing this particular device.

The USB will ONLY work on thumb drives that identify at USB Mass Storage Device.  If it identifies as *anything* else, it won't work.  This means the device will only work on newer thumb/flash drives.  It will not work on external hard drives, USB CD or floppy drives, etc.

answered by sarah.barsness on 22 Dec 2014