Question about Olympus WS-100 Digital Voice Recorder

Unlocking Locked Digital Recorder

I have a teacher that has the WS-100 and has had it locked for a long time. She has tried tech support and the users manual with not avail. Any help is appreciated! Thanks! Than

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ThanITRT Aug 22, 2007

All the files are locked. When I hit the menu button it scrolls through the letters A through E on the top of the screen. Yes, I can play back the files, but I can't edit or erase any of those files from the recorder. Nor am I able to get to a spot in the menu that will show me the On Off function as you show in the picture above.
Katlin Jan 18, 2008

I cannot unlock the files on the WS-100. I have tried to unlock the same way. Files are firmly locked. Any suggestions?
Anonymous Feb 20, 2008

I have the same exact problem. All my files are locked for some reason and I can play them but cannot record new ones or erase the ones i have. I pressed the menu botton and got to the option lock but none of the buttons will allow me to get it to " lock- off" button. After struggling with it for hours, I decided the format and that fixed the problem. I just hope it does not happen again.

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Anonymous

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Very frustrating for my technophobe journalist wife but changing the format is the solution and it's not as easy as it sounds. To avoid 'struggling for hours', olympus should have included something like the following instructions: access the options via the menu button (pressing it for a few seconds) then choose format with ff or rew but wait for 'yes' to appear and not just for 'no' to dissappear. Then press play and wait for 'are you sure' to cross the screen and choose 'yes' again and wait again for the 'done' message. Eureka, you can start recording again. Fiddly enough, so without proper instructions...! Hope this helps.

Posted on Mar 20, 2008

Anonymous

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I had the same problem I some how locked my recorder, I just figured out how unlock it.

1. Go to menu and then select the "format" category.

2. Select yes to format.

3. Mine asked me if I was sure that I wanted to format this and I said Yes again.

4. It formatted for a few seconds and then it returned mine to normal.

Hope this helps all.

Posted on Sep 25, 2008

Anonymous

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I have the same problem; however I cannot even play the file I have. I cannot play, erase or record. I do not have a picture to post. My display looks different from the picture posted by informatica. The erase lock indicator is present, and I can scroll through to lock using FF or REV. The difference is in the little box above lock where that picture shows On - mine shows 00. When I press play in hopes of getting an on of an off to appear only 00 shows up. I tried to press FF after pressing play to see if that would make an on / off appear, but all it did was send me to MIC (the next option). I tried just about everything after that to get anything to display other than 00. My olympus will now show an on or an off unfortunately =(.
A few minutes ago I attempted to do the format method posted by frenchfrank, and that worked luckily. I lost my whole lecture unfortunately; however, I am able to continue using the Olympus WS-100. I decided to post this in hopes that a solution might come out of it for another person with the same problem. I hope this problem does not repeat itself.
Other than this occurrence, this Olympus ws-100 has been wonderful! I can place it on a desk in the back of the classroom and record the instructor clearly lecturing in the front of the room.

Posted on Mar 24, 2008

Anonymous Mar 24, 2008

I have the same problem; however I cannot even play the file I have. I cannot play, erase or record. I do not have a picture to post. My display looks different from the picture posted by informatica. The erase lock indicator is present, and I can scroll through to lock using FF or REV. The difference is in the little box above lock where that picture shows On - mine shows 00. When I press play in hopes of getting an on of an off to appear only 00 shows up. I tried to press FF after pressing play to see if that would make an on / off appear, but all it did was send me to MIC (the next option). I tried just about everything after that to get anything to display other than 00. My olympus will NOT show an on or an off unfortunately =(.
A few minutes ago I attempted to do the format method posted by frenchfrank, and that worked luckily. I lost my whole lecture unfortunately; however, I am able to continue using the Olympus WS-100. I decided to post this in hopes that a solution might come out of it for another person with the same problem. I hope this problem does not repeat itself.
Other than this occurrence, this Olympus ws-100 has been wonderful! I can place it on a desk in the back of the classroom and record the instructor clearly lecturing in the front of the room.

Greg Cann

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1,114 Answers

Hi Than, tell us a little more about the exact message you see on the player, is it like the attached picture? Does the player come on OK and do any other functions work like playing back recordings? Please update the question & let us know if the information given was useful to you - Good Luck!

Posted on Aug 22, 2007

Greg Cann Aug 22, 2007

You need to press the menu button for a second or longer to access the options. Have you tried both FF & REW keys to see if you scroll to the lock function? Another option if you can get to the menu is to format the unit, this will erase all files.
Lastly can you connect it to a PC & delete the files? Do not try formatting it on a PC as this will delete the units operating system & it will be useless!

Please update the question & let us know if the information given was useful to you - Good Luck!
Greg Cann Aug 22, 2007

Hey great you got it working?!
Which fix worked for you - inquiring minds need to know!

Best regards,
Informatica.

Anonymous

Thank you
French frank, perfect solution ro the locked recorder.
M

Posted on Sep 09, 2008

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If you format the recorder, all function settings will return to their defaults.
All files stored in the recorder will be deleted.
If you have important files that you want to save, connect the recorder to a computer and
transfer those files from the recorder to the computer before formatting the device.
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the battery compartment from the recorder during that time. Otherwise data may be damaged.
s Never format the recorder from a PC.
s When the recorder is formatted, all the stored data, including locked files, are erased.

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