Cannot format RAW drives! Get the corresponding ways to recover data from RAW drives and convert RAW to NTFS or FAT32 file systems in this article.
My hard drive is dying or dead? The file system changed to RAW, and I can’t open this drive anymore. Not to mention format it. Is there any way to get my data back without formatting? Thanks.
- A user from Toms Hardware
When the file system of your drive is missing or corrupted, it will become RAW. Besides, if your drive is not formatted with any file system, it also can turn RAW. Then your drive automatically become unreadable by any operating system.
If you double-click your connected RAW drive in File Explorer, you will automatically receive this error message: You need to format the disk in drive H: before you can use it.
But disk formatting or initialization can erase all the existing data on your RAW drive. If you desire to keep its data, please click the Cancel button in File Explorer. You’ll see another error message as follows.
If you want to format your RAW drives without losing data, you’re supposed to recover deleted & missing files from your RAW drives first. Then you’re ready to convert RAW to NTFS or FAT32 file systems without losing data via the second part.
How to recover deleted & missing files from RAW drives with ease? A powerful third-party tool like MyRecover could be your top choice because highly-praised data recovery software can avoid many blind spots and try its best to recover data from RAW drives as much as possible.
Don’t hesitate to download MyRecover on your Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, or Server PC!
Step 1. After launching MyRecover, hover the mouse over the RAW drive and click Scan.
Step 2. It will automatically scan your RAW drive and display all the found files. You can filter and preview needed data based on Document types (eg: Word documents).
Step 3. Go to the Other Missing Files folder and select the data you want. Then click “Recover x files” to begin the Windows data recovery process.
Notes:
After retrieving recoverable data from your RAW drive, you can format your RAW drive. When you cannot format RAW drives via Windows File Explorer, you can refer to the following solutions to format and convert file systems.
Diskpart is a feasible fix for you to convert RAW to NTFS without losing data because it can manage your PC’s drives (disks, partitions, or volumes).
Step 1. Press “Win + R” and type “diskpart” in the Run box. Then hit “Enter” or click “OK” to open it.
Step 2. Type the following command prompt in the window one by one and hit “Enter” after each line.
Although diskpart is useful, ordinary users cannot format RAW to NTFS using CMD. Then you can seek help from Disk Management, designed to perform advanced storage tasks.
Step 1. Press “Win + X” and select “Disk Management” to open this Window system utility.
Step 2. Right-click on your RAW drive and click the “Format” button.
Step 3. Select the NTFS file system and click “OK” to save your changes.
Apart from that, powerful partition recovery software-AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard can also help you format and convert file systems without paying.
Step 1. After running this free demo on your Windows PC, right-click on your selected RAW disk and select the “Format Partition” option.
Step 2. Select the FAT32 file system and click the “OK” button.
Please click “Apply” to save these changes and wait patiently.
If you cannot format RAW drives via File Explorer, you can refer to the second part to convert RAW to NTFS or FAT32 file systems. But before that, you’d better recover data from RAW drives via MyRecover. Otherwise, you’ll suffer the second damage.
To prevent data loss at the source, it’s time for you to make regular backups via this free backup software for Windows, AOMEI Backupper to back up files, folders, partitions, disks, or systems.