Patent ID: 8527680

Claim:
A USB portable device storing therein a switching program which is executed by being connected to a host apparatus, comprising: an activating USB functioning unit that stores the switching program in a readable and writable storage means thereof; a storing USB functioning unit that permits a read and a write from the host apparatus; and a controlling USB functioning unit that switches one of the USB functioning units recognized by the host apparatus to another one to be recognized by the host apparatus, wherein the controlling USB functioning unit makes the host apparatus: recognize the storage means of the activating USB functioning unit as a readable device upon connection of the USB portable device to the host apparatus, and read the switching program in the recognized readable device into, the host apparatus; then the host apparatus: executes the switching program read therein, unmounts the readable device, and sends a switching instruction having a prescribed flag enabled to the controlling USB functioning unit; and then the controlling USB functioning unit: makes the host apparatus recognize the storing USB functioning unit as a readable and writable device, accepts a read or write instruction having the prescribed flag disabled, and performs an access control in which a fraudulent write instruction to the readable device, the instruction having the prescribed flag disabled, is ignored during a time period from when the readable device is recognized by the host apparatus until when the readable device is unmounted.