Can Recuva make a recovered disk read only?

[rosawoodsii]

I just recovered files from a USB drive and then attempted to format the drive.  However, it said "this disk is write-protected".  Checking the permissions showed I had complete access, including both read and write.  I used Recuva to recover files that I'd inadvertently deleted, but now I can't move the files that are still on therel (but can copy them), write any new files, or format the drive.  Could Recuva have done this or could it be a faulty drive?

[Nergal]

Afaik recuva does not make the drive read only. Did you try to diconnect the drive then reconnect and format?

[nukecad]

It can sometimes happen that a USB stick suddenly becomes write protected for seemingly no reason.

See this for various ways to fix it: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-fix-write-protection-errors-on-a-usb-stick/

[rosawoodsii]

Thank you!.  It was Step 5 that cleared it.  I did find it interesting, though, that formatting the disk was the last resort. That's actually what I was setting out to do and it wouldn't allow me because of the write protect.  Once that was cleared, I was able to format.