RAW file system type: how to restore disk (HDD) performance and restore NTFS / exFAT

User question

Hello.

Please help me recover the external drive. Everything was OK with it yesterday, but today it is not detected when connecting: my computer does not show free space on it, and if you go to its properties, then the RAW file system appears.

PS. Files on it are very necessary. Help ...

Hello.

First, I want to warn you right away that the RAW file system does not always mean the loss of information on the disk (in more than half of the cases it is possible to recover everything).

Secondly, take your time (otherwise many users unknowingly delete everything from the disk), and read the note to the end ...

What to do if the hard drive is detected as RAW

First steps (reasons for the appearance of RAW)

And so, the first thing I recommend to do is not to agree to any suggestions from Windows, optimization utilities, antiviruses, etc. (note: with this problem, Windows often suggests formatting the drive, see the screenshot below). Your best bet is to ignore this message (or just close it).

Close the formatting suggestion window

If the problem occurs with the external drive, then it is best to disconnect it from the USB port for now. And it is highly desirable not to copy anything to it (sometimes, RAW marks not the entire disk as a whole, but only one of its sections)!

After that, close (stop) the work of antivirus, torrents, optimizers, editors, etc. Such software can interfere with the disk check.

Note!

File system RAW means that the file system is not specified on the disk (ie it is not partitioned or just "raw"). This happens most often due to certain logical errors in the file system ...

The most popular reasons for the appearance of RAW:

incorrectly disconnecting the disk (flash drive) from the USB port (many do not use the special tray icon for safe removal). In addition, if you abruptly remove the disk from USB while copying information to it, there is a high probability of such an error;
a problem with electricity: if your light "blinked" and your PC rebooted, there is a high probability that RAW will appear (in this regard, laptops are much more secure than PCs);
when a computer is infected with some types of viruses;
in case of incorrect operation of programs when partitioning and formatting disks;
due to disk malfunctions (physical wear, for example).

So, if the reason for the appearance of RAW is the incorrect disconnection of the disk from the USB port (for example), then the probability of data recovery is quite high (in most cases, it is enough to check the disk for errors).

Option 1: if data on such a disk is NOT needed

In this case, you can simply reformat the drive (or reinstall Windows on it) and continue using it.

Important: formatting will delete all files on the drive. Their further restoration will be extremely difficult to perform ...

To format the disk - just go to "My Computer" and right-click on the disk ... (see screen below).

Drive F - Format

If the hard drive is in "On my computer" is not displayed (or when you try to access it, the PC freezes): press the combination Win + R, and enter into the window "Run" command diskmgmt.msc (the disk management utility should start).

diskmgmt.msc - start disk management

Next, right-click on the disk and select the option "Format" ... After that, you will need to specify the file system (NTFS, exFAT), the letter, and agree to the operation.

Format

Also, as another alternative, the disk can be formatted using special. programs. For example, in MiniTool Partition Wizard there is a special for this. a master who will guide you at every stage of the operation.

To help! The best programs for formatting, partitioning the disk - //ocomp.info/programmyi-dlya-rabotyi-s-hdd.html

MiniTool Partition Wizard - window screenshot (program features)

Option 2: if the data on the disk is REQUIRED

As mentioned above, checking the disk for file system errors (the utility for this is built into Windows) can eliminate the causes of RAW and restore access to disk files.

There are two ways to launch it ...

Check for errors

Method 1

1) First you need to go to "My computer" and open properties disk.

Disk properties

2) Then go to the menu "Service" and click on the button "Check" (see example below).

Check disk for errors

3) After that, Windows will start checking the disk (and, if necessary, fix the errors found). Ideally, at the end of the check, the OS should report that the errors found were fixed (or that they were not found at all, as in my screenshot).

Disk verified successfully

Method 2

1) If the first method failed to check the disk (for example, in some cases the explorer may freeze), you can go the other way ... 👌

First you need to open Task Manager (Ctrl + Alt + Del), go to menu "File" and create a new task. After in line "Open" enter CMD, check the box "With administrator rights" and click OK.

Create a task with administrator rights

2) Next, the command line should run as administrator. To start the check - enter the chkdsk D: / f command (where D: is the letter of the drive you want to check).

check disk - chkdsk

3) If everything is in order with the disk, a message will appear in the report that no problems were found (or that errors were fixed).

Windows found no problems

Take advantage of the specials. Disk data recovery software

If you have already formatted the drive (by agreeing to the Windows offer), or the files on the disk have been deleted (disappeared, etc.) - do not rush to do something with the disk (write other files to it, format it again, etc.) etc.).

The fact is that most of the files on it can be restored using special. programs (if, of course, everything is in order with the mechanics). I have considered this issue in more detail in one of the articles (link below).

To help!

How to recover files from a MicroSD memory card, USB flash drive, disk - //ocomp.info/kak-vosstanovit-foto-s-sd-karty.html

In the example the screenshot below shows one of my flash drives, on which all the files (photos, pictures) have disappeared. However, almost all of them were restored ... 👌

Several recovery options (clickable)

Option 3: if Windows stopped loading (i.e. the system drive C: \ was corrupted)

The file system of a Windows disk can also fly in RAW (of course, if this happens, it will not work to load the OS). In general, usually, when the OS boots, it will check the disk itself (automatically), but sometimes this does not happen ...

In this case, you can resort to two solutions.

Method 1

Disconnect the disk with the RAW system from the computer, and connect it to another device (now any disk can even be connected to a USB port via an adapter). Then check it (restore files).

To help!

How to connect a second hard drive to a computer, laptop - //ocomp.info/kak-podklyuchit-vtoroy-hdd.html

How to connect a hard drive to a USB port - //ocomp.info/kak-podklyuchit-disk-k-usb.html

Method 2

For this method, you need a bootable USB flash drive (in my example I will use a USB flash drive with Windows 10).

So, having booted from such a flash drive, after choosing a language, you need to start system recovery.

System Restore

2) Next, go to the troubleshooting section and run the command line.

command line

3) After you need to start notepad (command notepad ). In notepad, click on the menu "File / open" - and look at what letters the hard drives have (the fact is that when booting from an installation flash drive, the drive letters may be different from the usual ones ...).