RAW hard disks are fairly problematic as they are not a frequent occurrence. Until this is rectified, you will continue to experience issues and may risk losing your data. Here, we will teach you everything you need to know about hard drive data recovery and how to fix RAW hard drives after we secure your data.
What Is a RAW Hard Disk?
A hard disk is considered to be RAW when its file system is missing, damaged corrupted, or unrecognized by the operating system.
If your hard disk is RAW, it cannot be read by your operating system and you will lose access to all the data within it.
While the data is not accessible, it still exists within the RAW drive. However, if the cause behind your RAW hard drive is filesystem corruption, then you may be at risk of data loss and should get it fixed as soon as possible.
Signs That Your Hard Disk is RAW
If you have a RAW hard disk, then you may notice the following symptoms-
1. Unrecognized file system
When the file system is damaged, corrupted, or infected, it becomes unreadable by the operating system. In turn, the operating system will recognize it as a RAW drive.
2. Error messages
If you have a RAW hard disk, you will be displayed with multiple error messages every time you try to perform certain actions, usually opening a file stored on the affected drive.
3. Inaccessible files and folders
If you have an inaccessible drive You won’t be able to locate or access files and folders stored with the RAW drive. If you can locate one, you will presented with an error message when you try to open them.
4. Capacity issues
When your hard drive is RAW, it will show you incorrect storage stats, like indicating that it is full when it is not, or showing that it has less than 0 bytes when it has data stored within it.
Why is My Hard Disk RAW?
Your RAW hard disk may become RAW due to the following reasons
1. Corruption
If your hard drive suddenly turns RAW, there is a good chance that your file system is corrupted. You can try running diagnostic tests to confirm this.
2. Formatting issues
If the formatting process is suddenly interrupted or runs into any errors midway, there is a good chance that it could lead to damaging the file system or turning your hard disk RAW
3. Damaged partition table
If your logical drive partition table gets damaged or corrupted, it could easily result in a RAW hard disk.
4. Unsupported, damaged, or damaged file system
Any sudden system crash, virus infection, or equivalent scenario can damage your file system causing your hard drive to turn RAW.
Before we move on to repairing RAW hard disks, it is important to ensure that the data within it is secured. (because that is what this is all for.)
Raw Hard Drive Recovery Using Professional Data Recovery Software
Since a RAW hard disk cannot be read by the operating system, conventional methods won’t work here. The best option in the scenario is to use professional data recovery software such as SFWare.
SFWare Data Recovery is a professional recovery tool that you can use for RAW hard disk data recovery. It is equipped with an advanced algorithm and a user-friendly interface. Combined with a simplified process, anybody can recover their data from RAW hard drives with a few simple clicks.
Follow the steps below to recover data from RAW hard drives using SFWare Data Recovery-
1. Download, install, and open SFWare Data Recovery
2. The RAW drive may not be shown initially so you will need to use the Select Physical Drive option to select it.
3. After selecting the drive click on Start Scan.
4. After the scan, all the data recovered from the RAW hard drive will be listed for you.
5. You can locate, select, and preview all the data that you wish to keep. Click on Save if you are satisfied with the results.
(NOTE: It is recommended to connect an external drive beforehand and save your recovered data onto the external drive directly.)
How To Fix A Raw Hard Disk?
Fixing and restoring a RAW hard disk is possible, what works will depend on the cause behind it and the level of damage done.
1. Update Disk Drivers
At times, outdated drives may cause issues that could lead to a RAW hard disk. Updating your drivers may just be able to rectify the underlying issues. To do so you can follow the instructions below-
1. Locate an open Device Manager.
2. Select the RAW hard drive.
3. Right-click on it and select the Update Driver option.
4. Select the search automatically for drivers option.
5. Verify the results.
2. Raw Hard Drive Recovery Using CHKDSK
CHKDSK or the check disk command is a Windows system tool that will scan your RAW hard drive for file system errors and rectify them if necessary.
To use the CHKDSK command you can follow the steps below:
NOTE: you will require admin privileges for this so make sure you have it before you begin.
1. Locate and right-click and open Command Prompt. Make sure to run as administrator.
2. Type chkdsk B: /f /r /x and press Enter to run CHKDSK.
- Replace B with the drive letter of your RAW hard disk
- The /f parameter instructs CHKDSK to fix any errors if detected
- The /r parameter instructs CHKDSK to scan for and rectify bad sectors.
- The /x parameter forces the volume to dismount before scanning and fixing a drive.
Note: Wait for the CHKDSK scan to complete, do not interrupt it midway. CHKDSK may delete data in order to rectify errors.
If this does not work, the next option is to format your drive. If you need your-
3. Format the RAW Drive Using Disk Management
Disk Management will allow users to format their raw hard drive and restore it. However, you may stand to lose all the existing data stored in the RAW drive.
1. Use the Windows search bar to locate and access Disk Management and open Disk Management Utility.
2. Locate your RAW hard drive, its data will be labeled as RAW.
3. Right-click on the RAW section and select the Format option.
4. Select the required file system, and perform the Quick Format.
5. Click on OK to begin the format.
4. Format the RAW Drive Using DiskPart
DiskPart will allow users to format their raw hard drive and restore it. However, you may stand to lose all the existing data stored in the RAW drive.
1. Locate and open Command Prompt. Make sure to select Run as administrator.
2. Type in diskpart and press OK.
3. Type in list disk and press Enter.
4. Input select disk along with the number of your RAW hard drive and hit
Enter.
5. Type in clean and press Enter.
6. Type create partition primary and press Enter.
7. Finally, insert format quick fs=fat32 or format quick fs=ntfs.
5. Professional Service
If your hard disk is still RAW after trying out all the methods provided in this article, a professional service is required. Consulting with professional services has experts and required resources at their disposal to provide you with the best chances of restoring your RAW hard drive
Conclusion
As this article comes to a close, I hope that you were able to safely recover your data from RAW hard drives and resolve your issues with the help of this article. Good hard drive maintenance goes a long way in preventing such issues.m For any related queries or feedback, feel free to reach out.
