Password Recovery for a SanDisk Drive

By J.S. Copper

SanDisk ships their flash drives with the U3 LaunchPad software. This utility has some handy applications, but it also allows the user to encrypt and password protect the flash drive. Unfortunately, if you forget the password to the SanDisk flash drive, your recovery options are pretty slim. When you set the password, you are asked to set a "Hint" that can help, should you forget. Beyond that, the only way to salvage the drive is to completely reformat it, erasing anything and everything on the drive.

Attempt to enter your password after accessing the drive. Make sure Caps Lock and Num Lock are off.

Use the "Hint" to help recover your password. After a failed password attempt, you can click "Hint," which will reveal the hint you entered when you initially created the password to help jog your memory. You have three total attempts to access the drive.

Reformat the drive. Right-click the SanDisk flash drive within "Computer" and select "Format..." Enter a name for the drive, select your desired format (FAT32 is typical for flash drives). Click "Start" to format the drive. This, unfortunately, will erase everything on the drive. Any data contained will be lost along with the password protection. Once reformatted, the drive will be fully accessible.

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