File system raw in ntfs. RAW file system or how to return NTFS

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If the operating system cannot detect the disk, it assigns it the RAW format. In this case, the HDD is visible to the system, but it will not be possible to save anything on it or use the information stored on it. The solution in this case is either to format the disk, which will entail the loss of all data on it, or to restore the old file system (in which case you will need more time).

Information about RAW format

All modern hard disks work in two file systems - FAT and NFTS (the latter is the most common). However, it happens that the file system changes to RAW, which means that there is no file system on the disk, therefore, no operations with it will be available.

One or more of the following reasons may cause the source format to change to RAW:

The file system has been damaged;
If you purchased a new hard drive and it is displayed in RAW format, this means that the partitions were not formatted;
Another factor is blocking access to the contents of the volume.

These problems can be encountered if the computer was turned off incorrectly (for example, through the power button, or by disconnecting from the power supply), system Windows crashes, physical damage to the disk, or viruses entering the computer.
If there was an operating system on the “affected” disk, it will not be able to start, and the BIOS will display “Operation System not found". In rare cases, the operating system may show signs of life, but they are limited only by the endless recovery procedure.

The process of converting a RAW format to any other is not particularly difficult, but there is a risk of losing data stored on the hard drive. If you need the data to be saved, then use methods that involve saving it. If the stored data can be neglected, then the conversion process to another format will take several minutes.

Option 1: Scan for errors

Using this method, you can count on recovering data stored on the disk. The method is universal and will suit everyone, regardless of the performance of the operating system. However, this option does not always help solve the problem, and it can take a lot of time.

If saving information on disk is not important to you, then you can consider other options in the article.

Provided that the operating system boots without problems, use these instructions:

There are also situations when system disk purchased the RAW extension. In this case, the operating system will not boot, however, restore its functionality using "Command line" everything will still be possible. To do this you will need bootable flash drive With current version OS:

It is worth understanding that scanning may take a long time, but positive result it doesn't always bring.

Option 2: Format the disk

This method is not very difficult to execute, but in this case you are 100% likely to lose your personal data. It is also worth considering that the method is only valid if your operating system boots normally.

The instructions look like this:

Option 3: Initialize the disk

This method will also require formatting the disk, but more deeply. It is recommended for use if you have just purchased and installed a HDD. If the hard drive previously worked normally, then this method will not suit you at all.

The instructions for this method are as follows:

Option 4: Recovery using third-party programs

In this case, you will be able to restore file system on the disk without damaging the data stored on it. However, you will need to use third-party software to do this.

This software does not require installation on a computer, and is also distributed free of charge, plus, the interface elements are mostly in Russian. You can download the program from this link.

Instructions for changing the RAW format using DMDE are as follows:

Using DMDE, you can also restore a disk with an installed operating system. To do this, you will need to connect it to another computer and do everything described in the instructions above. However, there may be a problem booting the operating system from this disk. In this case, you will have to do an additional recovery using the installation flash drive.

TestDisk

This program is much more difficult to master than the previous one, but it is more effective. The entire interface is more reminiscent "Command line", besides, it is completely in English. If you don’t understand what to do in this program, then it is better to consider its analogue above, since one error can lead to the loss of all information on the disk without the ability to recover it.

Those who are confident in their abilities can try to restore the disk's functionality using the following instructions:

This program can also be used to restore the file system of an operating system disk, but be careful as any incorrect action will mean deleting all data on the disk. If everything goes well, the operating system may still not boot from the disk. In this case, you will need to use the OS bootloader to restore functionality.

This article discussed the main methods that will help change the RAW format to NTFS or FAT32. Use the option that is most convenient for you, as they are all equally effective, although some restore both the file system and data on the disk.

Almost every user has encountered a RAW file system error and wondered how to return to NTFS. To begin with, I would like to dwell in more detail on the reasons for the appearance of this very RAW and give some terminology.

So, RAW is not a file system at all. In this way, the OS identifies an unknown structure. By the way, RAW translated from English means raw material / raw material. NTFS – New Technology File System, translated from English - file system of new technology.
You can name a number of signs that will help identify the problem when accessing a particular section. Windows may return the following dialog boxes and messages:

Resetting the disk structure to RAW type from NTFS and the appearance of such errors may be caused by the following factors:

sudden voltage surge;
incorrect disconnection of disks from power supply;
incorrect OS update at any stage;
bad sectors;
unstable work motherboard;
damaged cables;
virus attack;
If an error occurs with a USB screw/flash drive, you should also check the connector itself.

There are a number of ways to return a file system to NTFS from RAW, but we will start with the one that minimizes risks and helps preserve the data structure and the data itself. So, how can you return a RAW disk to NTFS without losing data? Let's look at several methods in order, starting with the simplest.

Classic restart

No matter how trivial it may sound, a simple reboot sometimes helps to return the file system from RAW to NTFS. This is due to a temporary glitch. If this method does not help, move on.

Checking connections

If you have a desktop PC and it is not under warranty, open system unit and carefully check the integrity of all wires, connections and their tight fit. The check did not find anything, just try reconnecting the disk into a free slot on the motherboard.
If the netbook/laptop is under warranty or not, contact the service center.
If we're talking about about removable media, reconnect it to another USB connector. If the situation repeats, check usb performance another device - mouse, keyboard, other media, etc.

First you need to eliminate the physical malfunction, and then move on to a software solution. The above methods did not help to return the file system from RAW to NTFS? Go ahead.

Check Disk will help with NTFS

Checks hard drives and removable media for the presence of bugs in the file system with further correction. In some cases, this will help return the PC to working condition.
Launch cmd with elevated privileges:

No access to cmd?

The situations are completely different: if Windows does not boot, then there is no access to command line. Naturally, there is no way to run Check Disk utilities with SFC.

Use live discs on CD/DVD/flash drive.
Take advantage boot disk or a flash drive for NTFS recovery:

To avoid errors, use the DiskPart utility:

After rebooting, do not forget to return the boot device - install the system disk.

If you have a desktop PC, you can disconnect the hard drive and connect it to another and run the scan from a different operating system.

Antiviruses will return NTFS

Check your system for viruses. The following will help:

MALWAREBYTES – trial version works fully for 14 days, you can download it from the official website.
https://ru.malwarebytes.com/premium;
Dr.Web CureIt! – free for use at home, you can download it from the developer’s website by following the link.
https://free.drweb.ru/download+cureit+free.
By excluding virus attack, and if it was not possible to return the normal file system, proceed to further instructions.

Formatting or how to return NTFS

One of simple ways return normal condition hard drive is formatting the disk, but this can only be done if nothing important is stored on it. You can convert RAW to NTFS using the built-in Windows utility- diskmgmt.msc.

Third-party tools to help the NTFS file system

Even verified people can return a file system from RAW to NTFS third party tools, which have proven themselves to be the best.

Recuva - from the well-known developer Piriform, they also created CCleaner.

We will download the program from the official website and select the version with the free license.

We will describe the process of manual data recovery in the case deleted files or files from damaged NTFS system partitions when working in Windows NT. The problem is that this OS does not include the appropriate software. Recovery programs NTFS data from third-party manufacturers, unfortunately, do not always use all recovery capabilities. The situation is aggravated by the lack of complete documentation on the low-level structure of NTFS control blocks.

What should you do if at one point you discover that your computer running Windows NT no longer boots or that some NTFS logical partitions have suddenly become inaccessible?

First you need to clarify what the problem is caused by: physical damage to the disk, failure of the controller, or destruction of the NTFS file system.

Disk problems

Hard drives have limited period service, usually several years. The failure of a device can sometimes be determined by characteristic clicks at the moment of initialization. The disk may click several times and then go silent without spinning up. When initializing, the BIOS will notify you of this problem. In such a situation, the hard drive should be repaired. If the cost lost information significantly exceeds the cost of the disk itself, you should contact specialists, which, however, is not cheap.

The repair is carried out as follows. If electronics located outside the sealed space of the disk fail, the corresponding board is replaced or repaired. To do this, you often have to disassemble another disk of exactly the same type.

In the case where the parts located inside the disk case are damaged, there will be more problems. First of all, you need to disassemble a broken disk in the so-called “ clean room", where the absence of dust is guaranteed. Then you should replace the electronics board by removing it from another drive. The repaired disk is closed, after which all that remains is to copy the information to the third disk by sector.

So if it's broken HDD with valuable information, be prepared to sacrifice another one for repairs and find a third one to copy the recovered data.

If you suspect the disk controller is faulty, try replacing it. Check also the connection cable.

File system problems

After making sure that the disk, controller and connecting cable are working properly, do not rush to use the NT Repair Disk created when installing the OS, or run the chkdsk file system recovery program - the result may be disastrous. Don't try to find the magic NTFS recovery program in Norton Utilities for Windows NT either - it's not there yet. If the information recorded on the disk is of particular value, you must first analyze the state of the control blocks of the NTFS file system using a disk editor.

This type of work requires fairly high qualifications. In particular, you need to understand the formats of file system control blocks. If you are unable to do it yourself, it is better to call a specialist and not attempt to repair NTFS yourself.

To check the control blocks, you need to connect two disks to the computer: the first, a working boot one, and the second, the one from which you need to recover information.

First, only the first disk is connected and Windows NT is installed. This disk will be used to save files recovered from damaged partitions. Next, the Disk Probe editor, which is part of the Windows NT Resource Kit, is installed. Although this editor is far from perfect, it will do all the work of recovering lost files.

After making sure that everything is fine with the first disk, turn off the computer and connect the second, damaged disk to it.

Defining Logic Device Geometry

To successfully restore information, you must determine the cluster size and boot sector address. The first value can be obtained from the boot sector of the NTFS partition (if, of course, its contents are preserved).

Launch Disk Probe. Select Physical Drive from the Drive menu. In the Open Physical Drive panel that appears on the screen, specify the PhysicalDrive1 device by double-clicking with the left mouse button on the corresponding line in the Available Physical Drives list. Then click the Set Active button, leaving the Read Only switch enabled, and close the panel with the OK button.

As a result, Disk Probe will have read access damaged disk. After this, try to read the contents of the master boot record of the disk, located in the first sector on track zero of cylinder zero. To do this, select the Read line in the Sectors menu. The Read Sector panel appears. In the Starting Sector field, specify the number of the first sector equal to zero, and in the Numbers of Sectors field set the value to 1. Then click the Read button.

The program reads the contents of the first sector into RAM and displays it in hexadecimal format. Select the Partition Table line from the View menu to view the disk partition table in format, and then go to the desired partition using the Go button. If necessary (when recovering files from an extended partition), repeat this procedure several times.

Having reached the boot record of the partition you need, select View from the menu NTFS string Bootsector.

What to do if the main boot record or boot entry the desired section destroyed?

This situation is difficult, but not fatal. A detailed table of correspondence between NTFS logical device capacity and number of clusters can be found on MSDN. For example, if the capacity is in the range of 1025 - 2048 MB, the cluster size will be 4 sectors, and if in the range from 8193 to 16,384 MB, then there will be 32 sectors in one cluster. Note, however, that by taking care in advance of the possibility of subsequent recovery of the disk in the event of damage, you can facilitate such work when the need arises. It is necessary to determine and record the cluster size immediately after installing the OS, while the NTFS boot sector is still intact.

If the cluster size remains unknown, it will have to be determined indirectly or by selection.

MFT table

The internal structure of the NTFS file system is fundamentally different from the FAT that is familiar to most. Without going into details, we will present only the information that is necessary to carry out restoration work on it.

The FAT file system (and its variant FAT32) stores file information in multiple locations on a logical device. A file descriptor containing its name, size, creation date, and the number of the first cluster allocated to it is located in the directory. Placement table files File Allocation Table, from which the name of the file table comes FAT systems, stores linked list all clusters allocated to the file. Finally, the file itself can be dispersed across clusters.

This organization greatly complicates file recovery in the event of any failures. The integrity of the FAT table is especially critical: if this table is missing or its contents are partially destroyed, information about the clusters allocated to the file disappears. As a result, a file can be assembled from individual clusters with great difficulty only by knowing its contents. In addition, this work requires a lot of time. Therefore, in practice, the disappearance of the FAT table and its copy means complete loss of files.

Loss of directories makes it impossible to determine the number of the first cluster allocated to a file, its name, and its exact size. In this case, the consequences are not so catastrophic, since the FAT table contains “orphan” chains of clusters that can easily be turned into files. The names of files obtained in this way usually consist of numbers. Note that if directories containing thousands of files are destroyed, it will be difficult to find them after recovery. required file, unless its contents are at least approximately known.

In the NTFS file system, all information about files is stored in the so-called Master File Table (MFT). MFT table entries contain sets of descriptors with information about files such as name, creation and modification dates, security attributes, and, most importantly, lists of clusters allocated to the files. If the file is small in size, it can be stored directly in the MFT table entry.

Consequently, the ability to recover files from damaged NTFS partitions is largely determined by the integrity of the MFT table and its copy.

How to find the MFT table?

Finding the MFT table is quite simple if the boot sector of the NTFS partition is preserved. Click the Go button next to the Clusters to MFT or Clusters to MFT mirr field in the panel shown in Fig. 2. To view the contents of the first sector of the table, select the Bytes line from the View menu of the Disk Probe program.

Pay attention to the FILE line located at the very beginning of the sector. This is where the table entries that describe the files begin. There are also entries for directories, index items, and others that we will not consider.

Line $.M.F.T. located at offset D2. This is the name of the system file containing the MFT table, in Unicode encoding. Thus, the first entry in the $MFT file describes the file itself. By looking through the table, you can find entries for others system files, such as $MFTMirror, $LogFile, $Volume, $AttrDef, etc.

If the boot sector is destroyed, the beginning of the MFT table can be easily found using Disk Probe. To do this, select the Search Sector line in the Tools menu, set the switches to the position shown in Fig. 4, and after filling in the Enter characters to search for field, click the Search button. Please be patient as the search process can take a lot of time.

Note that in a similar way you can find entries in the MFT table for those files that need to be restored. Since file names are stored in Unicode encoding, when searching, you should set the switch to Unicode characters. In addition, you must enable the Exhaustive search and Ignore case search modes.

Analysis of MFT records

Unfortunately, Disk Probe does not provide any means of formatting the contents of MFT recordings. Moreover, the exact format of this entry is not available in Microsoft's public documentation. However, a lot can be found on the Internet by searching for the keywords “NTFS Documentation”. For example, we were able to find information collected by developers of modules for the Linux operating system. Analyzing the source codes of the module for mounting in Linux file NTFS system, you can understand the purpose of individual fields of MFT records (the authors would like to thank Maxim Sinev for his help in “deciphering” MFT records).

An MFT record consists of an initial fixed-size fragment and a set of attributes that are generally variable in size. To recover files, you only need to know the exact format of the data attribute. As for other attributes, it is enough to be able to determine their location and size.

The first four bytes of a file entry form the word FILE. In Fig. 3 they are highlighted in red. The next two bytes (highlighted in blue) are the offset of the so-called Fixup area. In this case, the offset value is 002A (taking into account the reverse order of the bytes in the word). Here and further we will use hexadecimal numbers.

The Fixup area is used in the process of detecting read or write errors. It consists of words of two bytes. The number of words is stored in the MFT record at offset 0006. In Fig. 3 Fixup area size field is highlighted purple. The value 0003 is stored there, so the Fixup area starts at offset 002A and extends to 002A+(2*0003)=002F.

Immediately after the Fixup area, the attribute fields begin. The offset of the first attribute is 0030.

The first four bytes of the attribute area define the type, and the next four bytes specify the size in bytes. For example, following the Fixup area at offset 0030 is an attribute with type 10. In Fig. 3, the type of this and the next attribute is highlighted in red (the attribute size is highlighted in blue). The attribute occupies 48 bytes, therefore the next attribute (with type 30) will start at offset 0078.

This way you can highlight all the attributes in an MFT record. At the end of the most recent one, the value FFFFFFFF is written - a sign of the end of the attribute chain.

For file recovery, attributes of type 30 and 80 are of greatest interest. The first of them stores the file name. You should use it to look for the MFT record that describes the file being restored. The second attribute with type 80 stores a list of clusters allocated to the file, or the file itself. We will tell you more about it.

As can be seen from the figure, the attribute type, equal to 80, is stored in the MFT record at offset 0160. In total, the data attribute occupies D8 bytes, since this is the value that is located in the four-byte field at offset 4 relative to the beginning of the attribute.

A byte at offset 8 relative to the beginning of the data attribute is a sign that the file is resident. If its value is 1, the MFT entry stores only the list of clusters allocated to the file (as in the described case), and if 0, the file is located inside the MFT entry itself. As a rule, records contain only small files.

Let's first consider the case of non-resident file placement. In this case, four bytes at offset 30 store the length of the file located somewhere on the disk. In this example, the $MFT file is B7B000 bytes long.

In order to determine the exact location of a non-resident file on the disk, you need to trace the chain of so-called blocks virtual numbers Virtual Cluster Number (VCN) clusters, or simply VCN blocks. The offset of the start of this chain is stored in a two-byte field offset 20 bytes from the start of the data attribute. In the described case, this indicator is 40, and the offset of the VCN block area relative to the beginning of the MFT record is 01A0. In Fig. 5 this area is highlighted in bold vertical line Green colour.

VCN Block Area Analysis

A file written to an NTFS partition can be segmented. It consists of one or more fragments called extents. The size and location of each extent is described in a VCN block. Depending on whether the file is fragmented or not, the VCN area may contain one block or a set of blocks. VCN blocks have a variable size, determined by the first byte.

The block format is worth showing at specific example. Let's take the first VCN block, which in the example under consideration has an offset of 01A0 relative to the beginning of the MFT record:

The tetrads of the first byte with a value of 31 define the sizes of the two fields of the VCN block. The first field, one byte long, stores the number of clusters allocated to the file extent. The second field, three bytes in size, contains the number of the first cluster. IN in this case The first extent of the $MFT file is allocated 20 clusters, and the first cluster number for the first extent is 0286D9. This way we determine the size and location of the first extent of the file.

The second VCN block is located immediately after the first:

To determine the first cluster of the second extent, you must add the offset specified in the second VCN block (including sign) to the address of the first extent. In this case, the second extent is located in cluster number 0286D9+21=286FA. The length of the second extent is 0824 clusters.

By analyzing the remaining VCN blocks, you can determine the size and location of all file extents. The VCN block list is closed with a byte with a value of zero.

Resident files

Files small size are placed directly in the MFT record describing this file to reduce access time. If the byte at offset 8 relative to the start of the data attribute contains a value of zero, then there is no need to trace the VCN block chain. This means that the file is inside a data attribute.

In this case, the offset of the resident data, i.e., the file, is written in a two-byte word with an offset of 14 relative to the beginning of the data attribute, and the size is written in a two-byte word with an offset of 10.

Let's give a small example. To illustrate the format of an MFT record containing a resident data attribute, we have prepared small file named Small.txt containing text string"This is a small text file." We then used Disk Probe to locate the MFT table entry created for this file (Figure 6).

As can be seen from Fig. 6, bytes of Small.txt file (allocated yellow) are inside an MFT record at offset 18 from the start of the data attribute, and the file size is 1A bytes.

How to recover files?

Now, armed with the above knowledge about the internal structure of NTFS system blocks, you can begin to recover files from the damaged partition of this file system.

Once you know the names of the files to be restored, you need to find the corresponding entries in the MFT table. This can be done using the Disk Probe program, using the Search Sector line from the Tools menu. The next step is to locate the data attribute in this record and determine whether it is resident or not.

If the data attribute is resident, then you need to save the sector containing the MFT record as a file on a working hard drive or floppy disk. This can be done using the Save as line in Disk Probe's File menu. After this, you should cut out the required part of the data and save the result in a new file. This operation is easy to perform, for example, in the Norton Disk Editor for MS-DOS.

In the case of a non-resident attribute, there will be much more work.

By tracing the VCN block chain, you need to determine the location and size of the extents of the file to be restored. Next, use Disk Probe to read the extent data and then save it to a file on the healthy disk. Don't forget also that in Disk program Probe specifies the number of sectors to be read or written, and the VCN block specifies the number of clusters allocated to the extent. Therefore, it is necessary to perform an appropriate recalculation.

Once you have restored all extents, merge them into one file (for example, using the COPY command with the /B option). Then set the correct file length obtained from the offset 30 field of the data attribute. In a FAT partition, such an operation can be performed using the same Norton programs Disk Editor.

Unfortunately, in practice, recovery large quantity files takes a lot of time. The hardest part is manually processing VCN block chains, which can be very long. You have to work with a calculator for hours, translating decimal numbers to hexadecimal and vice versa, as well as performing various arithmetic operations necessary to determine the size and location of the extents of the files being restored. Therefore, we usually use a small homemade program, NTFS Explorer, which performs the most labor-intensive operations in a semi-automatic mode.

Every operating system contains storage devices, and for them to work, a file system is required. With its help, the computer converts information (photos, music, videos) into a binary system, in other words, into a language that it understands. After this, the data is organized and further transformed for viewing by the user.

Storage devices- This is very vulnerable technical equipment. Damage occurs in both the logical partition and the physical partition. Most problems associated with hard drive are fatal and require replacement of equipment, but there are also solvable problems. The RAW file system is of this type.

Raw file system - what is it?

As previously said, a hard drive has a file system. The most popular are NTFS and FAT, which can be used for both hard drives and flash drives.

But what is the RAW file system? No matter how contradictory it may sound, this is the absence of any system at all! In other words, this is a critical error in the existing file system and Windows does not recognize it. It occurs due to the inoperability of the file system. Because of Technical information information about the media is not displayed and access to files is impaired.

Let's look at the features of the RAW system
1. Access to the device is denied, and if the file system on your computer or laptop is faulty, Windows will not boot and you will see an error.
2. If such an incident occurred with removable storage, an advertisement will pop up telling you about the need for formatting.
3. Open the “properties” of the drive and in the displayed information column, you will see “File system type – RAW”.

Why does the flash drive have the RAW file system?
For such dramatic changes to occur in the file system, one reason from the “gentleman’s set” is enough:

Incorrect shutdown of the computer, power surge and disconnection of the computer from the network with a USB flash drive connected! Such treatment can also affect the computer’s file system and cause fatal problems with other components.
Operating system failures can also cause this problem.
The most common reason is viral infection. After all, it was not fools who came up with the idea of installing anti-virus programs.
Physical damage to the drive, which can also cause loss of information.
Processes occurring at the file system structure level. Problems with boot sector, broken partition geometry values, etc.

The appearance of a RAW file system is not fatal in most cases, and recovery of user data is possible. There are exceptions, this is due to physical damage incompatible with life.
It is recommended to contact service center, where specialists will carry out the necessary operations to restore the flash drive and the data on it. This can be done with your own efforts, but you should be very careful not to aggravate the situation and not lose all the information.

To return the NTFS file system, you can use one of these programs:

Hard DISK Format Tool,
Recovery Tool,
Acronis Disk Director.
Online service – RecoveryOnLine.
Reformat the disk to NTFS using MS Windows.

If using these programs did not help solve the problem, then in the global storage you need to find out which controller the drive has and reflash it, but this is a very difficult procedure and even experienced users may not be able to cope. If even such manipulations did not help, then your flash card is dead.

3 more useful articles:

What is raw markup on hdd, memory card and usb flash drive. How to fix the error “chkdsk is not valid for raw disks” and return ntfs.

A fairly common problem: the contents of the memory card or hard drive are inaccessible, Windows OS (7 - 10) displays the message "chkdsk is not valid for the disk." The file system format is RAW.

What is raw, is it scary and how to fix the error (returning the NTFS file system) - read here.

What is a "RAW file system"?

When you connect the device to the USB connector, you see in the properties of the file volume information that the flash card has a raw file system type and is not formatted in the standard NTFS or FAT file system.

Windows OS assigns a RAW label to a volume with an undefined file system. This occurs if none of the system drivers could recognize the file system. In the case of Windows OS, we are talking about FAT(32) and NTFS.

Thus, RAW is not a file system, but a sure sign.

RAW disk: reasons for the error

Most often, RAW markup appears if:

The disk or file volume is not formatted,
Access to the file system/disk/memory card is prohibited or limited,
There were reading errors, damage to the file system structure, and bad blocks.

For raw disk There are some symptoms that definitely indicate disc problems. Among these symptoms:

Incorrect media type when reading disc
Windows displays "Cancel", "Retry", "Error" window
File system appears as RAW in applications
The error “chkdsk is not valid for raw disks” appears
Windows asks you to format the disk
File names contain non-standard characters
The message "Sector not found" appears

When does the error chkdsk not valid for raw disks occur?

File system information is stored in two places:

MBR partition Table
Volumes boot sector

If one of these sectors is damaged or not found, chkdsk reports that this utility not valid for raw disks.

Why raw markup is bad

If your device has raw markup, you cannot view its contents or perform file operations. Also, the disk cannot be checked for errors or defragmented.

As a result, files stored on the disk become inaccessible, although they are physically still there and can be restored by any recovery program.

Important! If your disk or partition has a raw file system type, your operating system Windows system prompts for formatting, warning "The drive is not formatted. Do you want to format it?" (Disk not formatted do you want to format it now?).

Don't settle for this: if you format the HDD, you will lose all the data on the raw disk!

How to fix raw without data loss in EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard

You can access the files by fixing the MBR partition Table or converting raw to ntfs format. This can be done virtually without loss of data or formatting.

Since the raw disk still contains data, let's try to return it (if not completely, then at least the most valuable files).

We will need the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard program. How to use it when recovering data from raw - read below.

Step 1. Recovering data from a RAW disk or partition

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard is quite a suitable program:

To recover data from raw disks,
If the SD card or flash drive in raw format is not formatted
For search deleted partitions hard drive.

Data Recovery Wizard is a paid program when it comes to full-featured use.

Advice. Alternatively, you can try free apps like Recuva or the ones we suggest in [this review].

1. First, download the program from the developer’s website:

The program is compatible with Windows 7/8/10, although it can be installed on earlier versions of the OS.

2. Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and in the window that appears, select the file types to recover (or activate the “All file types” option). Confirm the operation by pressing .

3. If a disk partition is deleted or detected in Explorer as RAW, use the Lost Disk Drives option.

Select the problematic disk with deleted data (Section “Lost disks”) and click the Scan button.

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will search for files available for recovery on the specified disk or SD card.

4. Once the scan is complete, a list of found files will be displayed. Check the required ones and click the Recover button to restore.

Important! Always save files to another drive to avoid overwriting.

Step 2. Convert RAW to NTFS file system without data loss

After recovering files, the raw disk needs to be formatted in order to be used further for storing files. Read how to do this correctly.

By the way. Windows OS allows you to format the disk to NTFS using the built-in utility Diskpart formatting via the command line.

Thus, if you recover data from a raw disk in advance, you can safely return NTFS partition and perform formatting. If you first format the disk and then try to recover the data, the likelihood of recovery will be significantly reduced.

If you are unlucky and accidentally formatted a raw partition, losing data on it, use the program Auslogics File Recovery (useful to read the article at the link).

Other useful programs for raw disk recovery

Besides EaseUS programs Data Recovery Wizard, you may need other tools for recovering raw partitions.

TestDisk

The free console utility TestDisk allows you to find lost file volumes. This way you can return files from the raw partition.

You can return ntfs using TestDisk as follows:

Run the TestDisk utility
Select Create → recovery disk → file system type
To start searching, select Analyze → Quick Search from the menu
Press P to search for files and Write to write the results to a table on disk

Minitool Power Data Recovery

Power Data Recovery has tools for searching for deleted/lost partitions: Lost Partition Recovery. With this feature you can quickly recover a raw partition.

Unlike the TestDisk console utility, Power Data Recovery has a very clear interface. Thanks to this, you can recover files and then format the problem area of the disk in FAT or NTFS.

HDD Raw Copy

The Hdd Raw Copy program (developed by Toshiba) is designed for low-level and sector-by-sector creation of a disk image. It will be useful when creating a complete copy of a hard drive or SSD. Having created a duplicate disk, you can safely experiment with the RAW partition: restore files on it, format and convert to other file systems.

In addition, the utility HDD Raw Copy will be useful for Reserve copy, creating duplicates, restoring information and migrating data.

Question answer

The next time you turn on external HDD on USB OS "advised" to format the disk. I checked the controller itself, installing another HDD in it - it works. The problem is in the HDD itself. Please advise what to do.

Answer. If the OS advises you to format your hard drive, there may be a partition table violation. Try restoring the raw disk system using the TestDisk console utility.