how to repair a raw hard drive

• Step 1. Connect your RAW external hard drive to your computer.
• Step 2. Click the "search" icon in the taskbar and type cmd. Then, right-click "Command Prompt" and choose "Run as...
• Step 3. Enter chkdsk G: /f and hit Enter to fix your RAW external hard drive. (G is the drive letter of your RAW drive.)

Full Answer

How to repair raw disk on Windows 10?

Stage 1: Recover Data from RAW Partition

1. If the RAW drive is an external drive, you need to connect it to your computer via a USB cable.
2. Open the software and enter the Logical Drive section by default.
3. This software will show you the storage drives it can find on the software interface. ...
4. Move your mouse to the target RAW drive and click the Scan button to start scanning that drive.

More items...

How to repair a corrupted hard drive in Windows 10?

Update the Disk Driver to Fix Corrupted Hard Drive Without Formatting

1. Right-click on This PC or My Computer and select Properties.
2. On the left panel, click Device Manager to open the Device Manager. ...
3. Right-click your drive and choose "Update driver".
4. Select "Search automatically for updated driver software..." Repairing a hard drive is a difficult task, even for the experts.

How to repair raw HDD?

How to fix a RAW drive in Windows?

• Solution 1. Check bad sector. Free download, install and open AOMEI Partition Assistant. ...
• Solution 2. Rebuild MBR partition table. If no bad sectors are found through the first solution, there are chances that the MBR partition table gets damaged.
• Solution 3. Format RAW drive to NTFS/FAT32. ...

How to format RAW drive to NTFS without losing data?

Stage #2: Fix the RAW hard drive to NTFS file system - 5 Methods

1. Open Windows File Explorer by double-clicking "This PC" icon from desktop.
2. Locate and right-click the RAW drive you want to format and choose "Format" option from the appeared menu.
3. Select NTFS file system and "Start" button. Then click "OK" button to start the formatting.

How do you fix RAW hard?

How to fix RAW external hard drive without formatting? - 5 MethodsMethod #1: Update drivers for the external hard drive.Method #2: Format RAW partition to NTFS/FAT32/exFAT/EXT4 using DiskGenius Free.Method #3: DiskPart converts raw to NTFS/FAT32.Method #4: Check and repair bad sectors.More items...

How do I fix a RAW hard drive without formatting?

How to fix RAW external hard drive without formatting?Type "CMD" in Windows' search box to launch the Command Prompt. Then, right-click on it and hit the Run as Administrator button.Type in "chkdsk e:/f" and hit the Return key. ... Wait for the process to complete and check if the problem has been resolved.

How do I fix a RAW C drive?

Replies (2) Insert the Windows installation disc in the disc drive or connect USB media and then start the computer.Press a key when the message Press any key to boot from CD or DVD appears. ... Select a language, a time, a currency, a keyboard or another input method, and then click Next.Click Repair your computer.More items...•

How do I recover my RAW external hard drive?

How to Recover Files From a RAW External Hard DriveTry Using a Different Port.Replace the USB Cable.Connect Your External Hard Drive to Another Computer.Update the Driver.Use Chkdsk to attempt a repair.

What causes a hard drive to go RAW?

When your hard drive becomes RAW, it indicates that your hard drive is not formatted with a compatible file system like NTFS or FAT32. And, the data on it remains inaccessible.

How can I convert my RAW hard drive to NTFS without formatting?

Method 1. Convert RAW to NTFS via CMD (Without Formatting)Click on Start, then type: cmd and hit Enter.Right-click on cmd and then click on "Run As Administrator".Type "Diskpart" and then hit Enter.Type H: /FS :NTFS and hit Enter.

How do I change a RAW drive to NTFS?

Open the File Explorer, find and right-click on the RAW disk. Select Format -> choose the NTFS file system. Click OK. That's it.

What does RAW drive mean?

RAW file system indicates a state of your hard drive which has no or unknown file system. A disk or drive with a RAW file system is also known as RAW disk or RAW drive. When a hard drive or external storage device is shown as RAW, it could be: The file system of the drive is missing or damaged.

Why CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives?

What does CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives mean? Simply put, the command CHKDSK cannot be used on the drive with RAW format. Therefore, Windows cannot perform a disk checking on that drive. As a matter of fact, many Windows commands don't work on RAW drives because Windows cannot access that drive.

Can RAW drive be recovered?

Is It Possible to Perform RAW Drive Recovery Without Data Loss? Yes, it's possible to perform RAW data recovery without any data loss, but you need to keep in mind that certain actions can make RAW hard drive unrecoverable.

How do I open a RAW hard drive?

Replies (3) Press Windows Key + R Key.Then type "diskmgmt. msc" without the quotes in the run box and hit on Enter Key.In the Disk Management Window, right click on the partition box.Then click on Open or Explore to check if you are able to access the files and folders.

How do I fix a RAW hard drive to NTFS without losing data?

2:195:24How to Convert RAW Hard Drive to NTFS Without Losing Data - YouTubeYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipThen type clean and press enter. After that type create partition primary then execute the format fsMoreThen type clean and press enter. After that type create partition primary then execute the format fs equals ntfs command this will change the partition to ntfs.

How do I change my RAW drive to NTFS without losing data?

Right-click This PC/My Computer on your Windows desktop and then choose Disk Management. Right-click your RAW disk in Disk Management and select Format. Choose NTFS as the file system and set the volume label and allocation unit size. Tick the box beside Perform a quick format and click OK.

How convert RAW to FAT32 without formatting?

Raw to FAT32 Conversion - Do it in quick steps:Recover data from the RAW sd card, USB or external hard drive (optional).Launch EaseUS free partition manager and choose Format.Configure the partition label, and choose FAT32 as the target file system.Click Apply to convert RAW to FAT32.

Why is my external hard drive a RAW?

When your hard drive becomes RAW, it indicates that your hard drive is not formatted with a compatible file system like NTFS or FAT32.

How to scan a RAW drive?

Step 1. Locate and Scan the RAW Hard Drive. Locate the RAW drive with its original drive letter and then click "Scan". If the RAW drive has lost its label, it will be detected as "Lost Partition", select it and click "Scan". The program will automatically scan all lost files and data on the RAW drive. Step 2.

What is easeus data recovery?

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is a powerful system recovery software, designed to enable you to recover files you’ve deleted accidentally, potentially lost to malware or an entire hard drive partition.

What is the best data recovery software?

EaseUS Data Recovery W izard Pro has a reputation as one of the best data recovery software programs on the market. It comes with a selection of advanced features, including partition recovery, formatted drive restoration, and corrupted file repair.

What is the best recovery software for Windows?

As one of the best data recovery software for Windows, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will help you recover all the files on your hard drive safely and quickly. After that, you can format your RAW external hard drive to NTFS without worrying about losing files.

How to run RAW files as administrator?

So, perform data recovery in advance, and then continue with the CMD method. Step 1. Connect your RAW external hard drive to your computer. Step 2. Click the "search" icon in the taskbar and type cmd. Then, right-click "Command Prompt" and choose "Run as administrator". Step 3.

What does "RAW" mean in a file?

As mentioned above, RAW means your external hard drive is not formatted. Thus, the direct way to fix it is to format the RAW drive to NTFS, FAT32, or other file systems available. However, as we all know, formatting inevitably causes data loss on your storage device.

How To Fix RAW External Hard Drive?

To fix external hard drives that have turned raw, follow the troubleshooting methods below.

Why is my hard drive raw?

Some of the reasons include – when the Partition table is damaged, MBR corruption, changing the file system frequently, abruptly ejecting the external hard drive from the system when files are in a transfer, and so on.

What Does RAW Hard Drive Mean?

A RAW file system means that the file system cannot be recognized by the operating system. All the data stored on the hard disk is organized by the file system. So when the file system gets corrupted or damaged, the OS cannot recognize it. The state of the hard drive becomes RAW, and data stored on it becomes inaccessible. Moreover, the disk space is displayed as zero bytes.

What is the best software to recover files from a RAW partition?

Make use of partition recovery software such as Remo Recover, to quickly recover files from the RAW partition. The program also aids in the recovery of deleted partitions. It supports the recovery of various file systems like NTFS, FAT32, 16, exFAT, and many more. It is compatible with both Windows and Mac. Follow the steps to recover files from the raw disk.

How many partitions of a hard drive are RAW?

Only one partition of the hard drive has turned RAW.

What does "raw" mean on a hard drive?

What does RAW hard drive mean? RAW file system means that the file system cannot be recognized by the operating system. All the data stored on the hard disk drive is organized by the file system. So when file system gets corrupted or damaged, the OS cannot recognize it.

How to format a hard drive?

Select the drive you want to format, then right click on the drive and click on Format.

How to recover RAW files from external hard drive?

You can register the software to Pro edition and copy needed files to complete RAW external hard drive recovery. Step 2 Select the partition from which you want to retrieve data and click File Recovery button. Step 3 Click Start button to enter scanning process. Step 4 Preview recoverable files and check recovery result.

Why do you need to fix RAW external hard drive without formatting?

When your external hard drive or other storage devices (such as internal hard drive, USB flash drive, memory card) becomes RAW format, you can neither open it in File Explorer nor access files on the device. If you attempt to open it in Windows, you are likely to receive an error message which might be "The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable", "You need to format the disk in drive before you can use it. Do you want to format it?" or "The parameter is incorrect".

What is diskpart command?

DiskPart commands can help you manage storage devices such as, disks, partitions, volumes or virtual hard drives. We can utilize DiskPart to convert/format/change RAW drive to NTFS or FAT32 for hard disk, external HDD, memory card, USB flash drive, etc.

What is diskgenius software?

DiskGenius is professional software for RAW drive recovery and it supports to retrieve files from RAW partition on internal hard disk , external hard drive, USB flash drive, memory card, virtual disk, etc. Also, it supports to change/format RAW drive to NTFS/FA32/exFAT/Ext4/Ext3/Ext2 file system in Windows 10/8/7/XP and Windows Servers.

Why is my external hard drive RAW?

Various reasons can lead to a RAW external hard drive and you may belong to one of these scenarios: 1 You disconnect external hard drive without using the safe ejection option, especially when Windows hasn't finished reading or writing actions to the drive. 2 There is a sudden failure during using the external hard drive, for example, power outage, connection issue, improper system shut down, etc. 3 There is something wrong with the USB port, USB cable or power supplier. 4 The external disk contains bad sectors, for example, the disk area which stores file system information turns to bad sectors, and the drive won't be recognized by system. 5 Virus/malware infects your external hard drive, making it inaccessible.

How to check if a RAW drive is still RAW?

Connect the RAW external hard disk to another computer and check if it is still RAW file system. Check USB port, USB cable and power supply. If there is something wrong with connection, Windows system won't be able to access the drive normally.

What is bad sector on external disk?

The external disk contains bad sectors, for example, the disk area which stores file system information turns to bad sectors , and the drive won't be recognized by system.

How to avoid RAW disk?

To avoid hard drive becomes RAW in the future, please install anti-virus software on your computer, and plug and unplug the device within proper steps.

How to fix external hard drive from RAW to NTFS in Windows 10/8/7?

Note: Following methods will change RAW file system to NTFS by completely formatting it. If there are important files you need to recover, please turn to professional data recovery software and get data back first. Please remember to backup hard drive on a regular basis in the future.

How to run a diskpart command?

If it is a data partition on internal disk, skip this step. 2. Press Windows key and R key combination to open Run. Input diskpart and run as administer. Type following commands in sequence and each command has an Enter followed by.

What is a RAW format?

A RAW format hard drive refers to a drive has not been formatted to any readable file system such as NTFS, FAT32, ex FAT, FAT, Ext2, Ext3, etc. Data on that drive cannot be readable because Windows does not know how to access. Say it plainly, that drive is corrupted or lost.

Can you format a RAW drive?

There are many approaches to format a drive in Windows. But in some cases, you may encounter such errors when you format a RAW drive, “The format did not complete successfully” in Disk Management and “ Windows was unable to complete the format ” in File Explorer. If you run CHKDSK on that drive, you’ll get “CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives”. In that case, try these two recommended solutions to fix RAW external hard drive to NTFS.

Can you change RAW drive to NTFS?

The RAW hard drive should be changed to NTFS successfully, and you can Change Drive Letter and Paths to assign drive letter in Device Manager as well as resize partition using Diskpart later if you want to. However, the formatting process takes too much time in a few cases. Or, it does not work for some RAW drives that caused by serious damage. Fortunately, a free and powerful formatting tool will be introduced for Windows 10, 8, 7, XP, and Vista.

What to do when your hard drive turns to RAW?

When hard drive turns to RAW format, the first move should be recovering data, provided that the hard drive stores files that are important to you but haven't been backed up. Data recovery software is able to locate files from inaccessible drives, such as RAW partition, unformatted drive, and then get them recovered. When RAW HDD recovery is completely properly, you can proceed to the next step, i.e., fix the RAW drive to NTFS or other file system types. Click following links to read what you are interested in.

Why is my hard drive raw?

Why does a hard drive become RAW? Quite a few factors can lead to RAW drives, for instance, the file system gets corrupted, bad sectors, malware/virus attacks, partition table corruption, unexpected shutdown, etc. Whatever the reasons, you need to find out solutions to retrieve lost files and get the RAW issue fixed.

How to get a RAW drive back to normal?

The most effective way to get a RAW hard drive back to normal is formatting it. Once the RAW hard drive is converted to NTFS , you will be able to perform read and write actions to it. However, formatting process removes all data off the hard drive. So what should we do to fix RAW hard drive and keep data?

What does "RAW" mean in a hard drive?

RAW hard drive indicates the file system of the hard drive becomes RAW instead of NTFS, FAT32 or exFAT. RAW is unknown file system and not recognized by Windows operating system. As a result, the hard drive cannot be accessed by Windows. In general, Windows prompts to format the RAW drive when you try to open it, e.g. "You need to format the disk in drive before you can use it. Do you want to format it?"

What is diskgenius?

DiskGenius is efficient and powerful partition manager software for Windows PCs and Servers. It can resize, create, delete, format, clone, image, extend, active and erase partition on hard drive and other storage devices. It supports NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, EXT4, EXT3 and EXT2 file system. Hence, we can use this free tool to convert RAW to NTFS or other file systems in Windows 10/8/7.

Is CHKDSK available for raw drives?

Solved: The Type of The File System Is Raw. CHKDSK Is Not Available for Raw Drives

Can you recover a RAW HDD?

Can RAW HDD be recovered? Yes. Before we get into specific steps of recovering RAW HDD, we need to select a RAW drive recovery program. DiskGenius is a wise choice. It optimizes the algorithms of identifying files of corrupted partitions which are not recognized by Windows operating systems, so that it can quickly find out and display lost files of the RAW hard disk for you. Moreover, it allows you to preview recoverable files, help you examining whether your files can be recovered correctly. The RAW data recovery works on not only hard drive, but also SD card, USB flash drive, external hard drive, virtual disk, etc.

How to fix a raw drive?

Here's an alternate way to fix a Raw drive: You convert it into NTFS, FAT32, or any other recognized file system. When you try Windows quick format or maybe 'Disk management' and neither of them can format the drive, give 'disk part command line' a shot and see what happens. Do this:

What If Disk Part Cannot Fix Raw Drive and the Drive Eventually Fails?

If this happens, it just means the driver must have suffered extensive hardware damage. If that's the case, then it's time to pull out your trump card, which is the low-level format. Doing that will erase everything in your raw drive, and you won't be able to recover any data that was in there. So always this has this at the back of your mind: Recover data from your Raw drive BEFORE you format or else you can bid your files farewell.

Can you format a raw drive?

Let's be clear on one thing: Formatting a drive is a very effective way to fix it; this solution works most of the time, and it doesn't matter whether the drive is a hard drive, memory card, USB or thumb drive. But you won't always be so lucky.

What to do if your hard drive turns into a RAW file?

If your hard disk suddenly turns into the RAW format, you can easily recover all your files using the CHKDSK command prompt on Windows 10.

Why is my HDD turning to RAW?

It may be due to a problem in the circuit board of the external HDD. Suddenly there may be electricity interruptions.

What is Check Disk?

Check Disk is a Hard Disk check utility that is used in Windows systems. With Check Disk you can check your disk integrity and fix logical disk errors.

Why is my laptop charging suddenly?

Suddenly there may be electricity interruptions. If you are using a laptop and the battery is damaged, it may be to pull suddenly the charge cable. If the USB socket is dusty or dirty, the voltage may be faulty. The Hard Disk may logically fail, so it can be a Bad Sector error. It may be HDD recovery programs misused.

How long does it take to recover a disk?

The disk recovery time using Check Disk (chkdsk) command on Windows may vary according to your disk size. For example, if your HDD is 1 TB, this may take 5-8 hours.

Is a hard disk a bad sector?

The Hard Disk may logically fail, so it can be a Bad Sector error.

How to fix a RAW drive?

One way to fix a RAW drive without data loss is to find the missing partition using specialized software and restore it back to its original place on the drive.

How to Recover Files from a RAW Drive?

There are several ways to recover data from a RAW drive, and you might need to try them all to recover all your data. We recommend you go through them in the order listed below because that’s how you can achieve the best results with minimal effort.

How to Avoid Ending Up with a RAW Drive Again?

Even though RAW file system recovery is possible, as we’ve demonstrated in this article, you should always do whatever you can to avoid ending up with a RAW drive. Here are some tips to help you:

How to run chkdsk on a RAW drive?

To run CHKDSK on a RAW drive, you need to know the drive’s letter and enter the command below in the Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell: Open the Start menu, search “ cmd ,” and launch the Command Prompt as administrator. Enter chkdsk X: /f (replace X with the latter assigned to the RAW drive).

How to replace X with RAW?

Paste the following command inside PowerShell: chkdsk X: /f (replace X with the latter assigned to the RAW drive).

What happens when a drive with a file system suddenly becomes RAW?

What happens when a drive with a file system suddenly becomes RAW is akin to a spreadsheet turning into one huge pile of letters and numbers. When that happens, it’s impossible to know where individual words and values start and begin, and your spreadsheet software may even refuse to open the file, unable to recognize that the file is actually a spreadsheet.

What is RAW recovery?

RAW drive recovery is the process of extracting files from a storage device that no longer has a functioning file system.