How to fix the raw section. How to recover data from a disk or partition whose file system is detected as RAW

If the computer could be turned off like a pocket calculator, the clever heads of engineers and software developers have realized this possibility for a long time. Perhaps in the future it will be so, but for now, it is necessary to shut down the PC with the appropriate means of the operating system, otherwise troubles will not be avoided. Changing the file system NTFS v RAW is just one of the troubles that a sudden computer shutdown can lead to.

As a rule, a partition with such a file system is determined by Windows, but no information about the data written to it is provided, as if they were not there, the progress bar of filling in Explorer is not displayed. When I try to open a section, I get a character thorny mistake “No access to X: /. Reading is impossible, the disk is not formatted " or something like that.

Changing the letter of a partition, launching the utility to check the disk from its properties is also impossible. Only formatting is possible, but do not rush to do this, otherwise all your files will be deleted.

If NTFS "turns" to RAW on the system partition, when you turn on the computer, a boot error is displayed, most often "Operating System not found" or "Reboot and selеct proper boot device".

What is RAW file system

As strange as it may sound, RAW just means the absence of a file system as such. More precise definition RAW is chaos, disorder of data on the disk. The error occurs when the Windows file system driver cannot determine its type. There may be several reasons for this, but the most likely is damage in the area of the main file table. MFT, boot sector and invalid values for the geometry of the logical partition in the partition table. The RAW type can also have unformatted volumes.

Recovering RAW volumes

The success of error recovery depends on the nature and degree of data corruption, which is responsible for determining Windows file system type. There is no universal solution to the problem, but in most cases, restore normal reading NTFS the built-in utility launched with the parameter helps / f from the command line. In other cases, specialized programs for recovering volumes help, for example, TestDisk.

If a user partition with data has become unreadable due to the appearance of RAW, you can reconstruct it from RAW to NTFS from under a working operating system.

To do this, run the chkdsk D: / f command in the command line running on behalf of the administrator and wait for a complete disk check.

If the system partition is damaged, it is advisable to connect the hard disk to another computer and check it, but you can also use any bootable disk with Windows to check and fix errors, not forgetting, however, that the letters of the partitions in the recovery environment will be different. For example, logical drive C will have the letter D .

If the RAW is caused by minor damage to the file table MFT, it is most likely that the system can be restored even after the error has been corrected by the utility it will boot normally. If to incorrect entries MFT damage to the bootloader will be added, it is also worth executing the following recovery commands in the console:

bootrec.exe / FixMbr
bootrec.exe / FixBoot

Note: this boot recovery method may not work for computers operating in UEFI.

In some cases, you may need to reinstall the operating system or restore it from a backup. As for user files on non-system RAW volumes, they usually remain intact and are perfectly readable after reconstruction to NTFS. However, the risk of accidental data corruption when using the RAW reconstruction utility or other programs are still available.

Therefore, if the data is of particular value, before proceeding to fix the main error, try to perform data recovery using specialized programs like R-Studio... Experience shows that they perfectly cope with such tasks, recovering files even from heavily damaged volumes. After that, the problematic partition can be simply formatted and the recovered data transferred to it.

Hard disks (hard disk drives - HDD), which for various reasons are not detected by the operating system, receive the RAW status, and access to them is terminated. When you try to open such a disk, Windows advises you to format it, but if you follow this recommendation, then all the recorded information will disappear. It is desirable to restore an acceptable format: NTFS or FAT32.

Sources of problems with HDD can be different, and, before doing anything to restore the format, it is worth identifying them. Here are the most common ones:

Connection failures. For example, the user disconnected the disk incorrectly, or the power supply was cut off and the file system was disrupted.
Broken cable that connects the drive to the board.
Malicious software that violates the data structure.
Errors that occurred when reinstalling or updating the OS.
In the case of a flash drive, the reason for changing the format to RAW may also be a malfunction of the USB connectors.
Malfunctions of the PC motherboard.
Errors when working with Acronis Disk Director.

Format recovery

To recover NTFS format from RAW, try the following:

Format recovery using special programs

If, when you try to check the HDD using the above method, a message appears: "CHKDSK is not valid for RAW drives", you can use programs that allow you to recover NTFS format from RAW. Let's consider the most popular ones.

DMDE

DMDE is a utility that looks for damaged partitions in the file system and helps restore the disk to NTFS status. After downloading and installing the program, you need to do the following:

Run the application.
On the left, check the box next to Physical Devices and Show Sections.
Select the damaged disk and click OK. After that, the utility will find the RAW section and mark it with a crossed-out icon. If this does not happen, perform a full scan (the corresponding button is located at the bottom of the window).
Now try to open the RAW volume and click "Recover" and then "Apply Settings".
After that, as a rule, the HDD format is changed to NTFS.

DMDE window

IMPORTANT. If you are trying to return the NTFS status to the system disk and do it from another PC, then after the operation is completed and the HDD is returned to its place, the previous computer will still display it in RAW format, so it is advisable to first restore the Windows bootloader.

Recuva

Simple and straightforward to use program that can fix RAW disks and flash drives. The procedure is as follows:

Launch the application, select "Recover all files", mark the damaged disk and click "Start".
The utility will detect files with broken structure and fix the format to NTFS.

Piriform Recuva program window

TestDisk

The third utility that recovers the disk format. Just download and run it, then:

Select "Create", press Enter.
Then click on the problem HDD, then Enter again and the Analyze and Quick Search items.
After executing the command, select Write to restore the information structure.

TestDisk program window

If all these manipulations did not lead to anything, most likely, the disc has mechanical damage or its components interact incorrectly and it would be more expedient to show it to a specialist.

How do I recover a disk partition?

It doesn't matter what kind of disk it is: a computer hard drive, a portable USB hard drive or a USB flash drive. Most often viruses can be the cause of the failure. In this case, when you try to open the disk, Windows reports some unfortunate information that cannot please in any way, for example: " The drive in the device [drive letter] is not formatted. Format it?"

If the file system of the disk is recognized as RAW, reading data, assigning a volume label and other operations on this partition (for example, defragmentation or checking for errors) become impossible. In this case, the operating system displays the size of the partition and, when accessing it, offers to format it:

If you are faced with a similar situation, then in no case press " Yes"if you have the necessary files on the disk. After formatting, they can of course also be recovered with the help of professionals or specialized file recovery programs, but the likelihood of success may decrease, and it is still better to do it from the very beginning.

If you look at the properties of this flash drive, you can see its zero size and the RAW file system:

RAW- designation for an undefined file system, in operating systems of the Microsoft Windows NT line. In fact, the RAW file system is not, and the definition of the file system of the partition as RAW means that the partition was not recognized by any of the file system drivers installed on the system (for example, FAT or NTFS). This usually means that the partition is not formatted or the structure of the file system is damaged.

RAW file system- the type of file system of a logical disk determined by the operating system (and other programs) in case of partial damage to the structure of the file system, for example, such as FAT or NTFS.

Possible reasons file system definitions as RAW:

Damage to the structure of the file system occurs as a result of failures in the operation of a computer or programs, as well as due to the activity of various kinds of malicious programs. The following damage can be distinguished:

Incorrect values for a partition in the partition table (for example, in the MBR);
partial destruction in the boot sector of the file system;
destruction in the area of the main file table MFT (for the NTFS file system);
while formatting a partition, the file system may be displayed as RAW.

One of the possible reasons is writing erroneous data to the boot sector or to the MFT. If most of the file system structures remain intact, the file system is likely to be restored.

If you look at the zero (boot) sector of the disk, you can see that not all is well:

Who is a maniac or fairies, he can figure out and manually correct the zero sector. It's not a fact that it will work out the first time and you won't lose anything extra. It is best to use a program that will spit on the displayed RAW file system and show all files and folders on the flash drive in its interface in the form of a familiar explorer.

There are several ways to save files from the RAW file system:

1.Using the program MiniTool Power Data Recovery

As a result, all files were copied to another disk, the problematic hard drive was formatted, after which the files were returned to their place. This is the most reliable way if you are not fairies :). It is written in detail about this .

The disadvantage of this method is that you need to have enough free space on the other disk to temporarily store all the files from the damaged disk. Also this method takes quite a long time.

2.Using the utility Check Disk

Open Start menu -> Run -> type in line chkdsk E: / f, where instead of the letter E - your letter of the damaged drive.

Depending on the size of the disk (flash drive), after a few minutes the disk will be seen as a normal disk with the NTFS file system instead of RAW, and all the files are in place!

Attention! This method is applicable only to flash drives and hard drives with the NTFS file system! If you had a FAT or FAT32 file system, then this method will not work to recover a RAW disk.

3.Using the TestDisk program

If the first two methods are not applicable, use this option.

TestDisk can:

Correct the partition table, recover deleted partitions;
Recover FAT32 boot sector from backup;
Rebuild (reverse engineer) the FAT12 / FAT16 / FAT32 boot sector;
Correct the FAT table;
Rebuild (reverse engineer) NTFS boot sector;
Recover NTFS boot sector from a backup;
Recover MFT using MFT mirror;
Define a backup SuperBlock ext2 / ext3 / ext4;
Recover deleted files on FAT, NTFS and ext2 file systems;
Copy files from remote FAT, NTFS and ext2 / ext3 / ext4 partitions.

Most often, the file system of the disk changes to RAW after an improper shutdown of the computer, when the lights were turned off, or the user saved time and pulled out the power cord of the system unit from the outlet. Another reason is viruses that change NTFS to RAW format of HDD disks. How to fix this problem, read this article.

What is RAW File System?

If the disk has received the RAW format, Windows will display it among other partitions of the hard drive. But when you try to open it, the computer will give an error and offer to format it. In addition, any actions with this volume will be inaccessible: checking for errors, defragmenting, etc. (it is useful to read "How to check the integrity of Windows 10 system files and restore them?").

As such, the RAW file system does not exist. If the disk receives such formatting, it means that the computer drivers are not able to determine the type of its file system - NTFS, FAT or FAT32. In practice, this happens in several cases:

the file system structure is damaged;
the partition has not been formatted;
there is no correct access to the contents of the volume.

If the volume with the OS is damaged, the warnings "Reboot and selеct proper boot device" or "Operating System not found" will appear when the computer boots.

Recovery

If the problem occurs on a non-system disk, but it contains important information that will disappear during formatting, use standard Windows tools or third-party programs to fix the error.

Windows tools

Basically, the standard chkdsk utility helps to fix problems with formatting in RAW.

After checking, the computer will repair the damaged sectors and the NTFS file system on the problem volume.

Important! This method is effective if the flash drive or hard drive was formatted in NTFS.

Also, the chkdsk utility will help when the system disk is damaged. But for this you need a bootable disk or flash drive.

Start the computer from a bootable USB flash drive or disk → Select "System Restore".
Advanced options -> command line -> enter chkdsk desired_drive_letter: / f.

Partition letters in a recovery environment differ from the names of logical drives. In order not to be mistaken, open the list of computer partitions in the command line.

Enter diskpart → list volume → the list will indicate which disk is the system disk.

Third party programs

There are third-party programs that help restore the NTFS file system if for some reason it has been reformatted to RAW. They do not damage user information stored on the volume, unlike the chkdsk utility, which can "touch" them during the recovery process.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery

Important! This method is most effective if the RAW file system appeared on the flash drive.

TestDisk

This is a multifunctional freeware utility that works with hard disk partitions with a large number of options. The program is presented in a portable version, therefore, does not require installation. The main disadvantage of TestDisk is that there is no Russified interface.

Download the archive with the program → run the file testdisk_win.exe as administrator → select “create” → enter.
Use the up / down arrows to select the desired drive → enter.
Specify the desired type of partition table (the utility will do it automatically) → enter.
To search for “lost” sections, select “Analyze” → enter → Quick Search → enter.
The utility will find "lost" volumes → press "p" to view the list of files.

If the file system of the flash drive has become RAW, then when you connect the removable media to the computer, you will see a message stating that you need to format the disk to use it. Do not rush to press the "Format Disk" button - all data written to the USB flash drive will be deleted. First, try to restore the drive to working order using the built-in utility. If this method does not help, format the drive after saving the necessary files.

Drive test

Before trying to fix the error, you need to make sure that the file system of the flash drive is really corrupted, that is, it is displayed as RAW. In this case, RAW is not a photo format, but a "raw" file system that replaced NTFS or FAT32 as a result of an error.

To make sure the drive is now RAW, look at how the drive appears in Computer and the Disk Management tool. In the explorer window of the flash drive, the amount of data will not be displayed; in Disk Management, the removable device will be marked as having a RAW file format.

Eliminating the crash

Do not format the drive right away to avoid losing important data. First, use a utility that detects and fixes disk errors. Usually it is used to fix failures in the file system of hard drives, but recovery of a flash drive with its help is also possible.

The first "f" in the command syntax is the letter of the flash drive, the file format of which needs to be restored without data loss. The second letter is the option for correcting errors found during the scan. If the CHKDSK utility fails, a message will appear in the interpreter window that the tool is not available for RAW disks.

Data recovery

In the event of a file system failure, you can use the DMDE program to extract data from a flash drive, which detects and saves all the information recorded on the media, but the most effective recovery tool is, however, it costs 999 rubles and not everyone can afford it. If you decide to use the first, then the instruction below is for you, if the second, then follow the link to the program, we have prepared a special instruction for you.

A detailed scan will start, as a result of which all files and folders written to the USB flash drive will appear in the program window. The data names will be different, so you will have to search for the information you need using the preview function. To save files elsewhere, mark them and right-click in the DMDE window. Select the "Recover files" item and specify the folder where you want to move the data from the flash drive.

If DMDE does not help, try other utilities - MiniTool Power Data Recovery,.

File system recovery

When the data extraction is complete, you can think about fixing the error in the file system. The format is restored by formatting, therefore:

If quick formatting did not solve the problem, and the drive still remains RAW, then perform a deep (low-level) format of the flash drive. It cannot be done using the built-in Windows tools, so you have to use special software - for example, the shareware utility HDD Low Level Format.