ntfs disk partition turned into rav. Raw file system how to open

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

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

The following factors can contribute to resetting the disk structure to the RAW type from NTFS and the appearance of such errors:

• a sharp jump in voltage;
• incorrect disconnection of disks from power supply;
• incorrect update OS at any stage;
• bad sectors;
• unstable work motherboard;
• damaged cables;
• virus attack;
• if an error occurs on a usb screw / flash drive, the connector itself should also be checked.

There are a number of ways to return the file system to NTFS from RAW, but we will start with the one that minimizes the risks and helps preserve the data structure and the data itself. So, how do you return a RAW drive to NTFS without losing data? Consider several ways in order, starting with the simplest.

Classic restart

No matter how trite it may sound, but 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

1. 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 to reconnect the disk to a free slot on the motherboard.
2. If a netbook / laptop, regardless of whether it is under warranty or not, contact the SC.
3. If we are talking about removable media, reconnect it to another usb connector. If the situation repeats, check usb performance with another device - mouse, keyboard, other media, etc.

Must first be excluded physical malfunction, and then go to software solution. Did the above methods 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 bugs in the file system with further correction. In some cases, this will help return the PC to a working state.
Run cmd with elevated privileges:

Can't access cmd?

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

1. Use live discs on CD/DVD/flash drive.
2. Use a boot disk or flash drive to recover NTFS:

To avoid errors, use the DiskPart utility:

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

If you have a desktop PC, the hard drive can be disconnected and connected to another and from another operating system run check.

Antivirus will return NTFS

Check the system for viruses. The following will help:

• MALWAREBYTES - trial version works fully for 14 days, you can download it from the official site.
  https://ru.malwarebytes.com/premium
• Dr.Web CureIt! - free for use at home, you can download from the developer's website by clicking on the link.
  https://free.drweb.ru/download+cureit+free.
  Having ruled out a virus attack, and if it was not possible to return a normal file system, we proceed to further instructions.

Formatting or how to return NTFS

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

Third party tools to help the NTFS file system

Return the file system from RAW to NTFS can be verified third party tools who 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 site and select the version with a free license.

How to restore disk partition?

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



If the disk file system is recognized as RAW, reading data, assigning a volume label, and other operations with this partition (for example, defragmenting or checking for errors) become impossible. At the same time, the operating system displays the size of the partition and, when accessing it, suggests formatting it:



If you are faced with a similar situation, then in no case click " Yes", if the disc contains necessary files. After formatting, of course, they can also be restored 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 indefinite file system, in operating systems of the line Microsoft Windows NT. In fact, RAW is not a file system, and defining a partition's file system 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 file system structure is corrupted.



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

Possible reasons filesystem definitions as RAW:

Damage to the structure of the file system occurs as a result of malfunctions in the computer or programs, as well as due to various activities. malware. The following damage can be identified:

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

One of possible causes is a write to the boot sector or MFT of erroneous data. In the event that most of the structures of the file system remained intact, the probability of restoring the file system is high.

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

Who is a maniac or fairies, he can figure it out and manually correct the zero sector. It’s not a fact that it will work 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 the 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 drive, the problem 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 has been written in detail .

Minus this method is that it is necessary to have enough free space on another disk to temporarily accommodate all files with damaged disk. Also this method is quite time consuming.

2. Using the utility Check Disk

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

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

Attention! This method 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 restore a RAW disk.

3. Using the TestDisk program

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

TestDisk can:

• Fix partition table, recover deleted partitions;
• Restore FAT32 boot sector from backup;
• Rebuild (reconstruct) FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 boot sector;
• Fix the FAT table;
• Rebuild (rebuild) the NTFS boot sector;
• Restore NTFS boot sector from backup;
• Restore MFT using MFT mirror;
• Define standby SuperBlock ext2/ext3/ext4;
• Restore deleted files on file FAT systems, NTFS and ext2;
• Copy files from remote FAT, NTFS and ext2/ext3/ext4 partitions.
  

Raw file system and how to return ntfs

Today we will look at how the raw format of hdd disks appears, what the RAW file system is, why it is needed and what to do if one of your disks is identified as invalid, unallocated, unformatted, damaged. We will also consider what to do if it says that “chkdsk is not valid for RAW disks” when trying to correct the situation using the operating system.

The RAW file system is implicitly present on Windows NT operating systems. It was created with a single goal - to provide applications and operating systems with data on the volume of the current volume and the name of the file system (FS) used on it. If received RAW section on hard or solid state drive(flash drive, SSD), this means that the file system of this volume or drive was not recognized by any file system driver installed in the environment used by Windows. That is, the file allocation structure is clearly different from NTFS and FAT/FAT32. This results in errors such as:

• a message that the drive/partition is not formatted in a known file system;
• it is not possible to perform normal access to the device/partition;
• the disk file system has been corrupted.

When one of the above notifications appears, further work with the volume is not possible either in read mode or, especially, in write mode.

Sources of the problem

Most often, such an error appears on a flash drive due to improper handling or wear of the device, but also for hard drives, especially removable ones, the problem is very relevant. Its sources in most cases are:

• malicious applications that interfere with the file table or volume structure;
• partial damage to the boot sector or file table of the volume;
• damage to the file table, which contains information about all stored data;
• physical damage to the sectors of the volume contributes to the appearance of a type of file system called RAW;
• improper removal of the flash drive or abnormal operation of the device (power surges, power outages or improper shutdown of the PC).

Disk or partition treatment options

Depending on the reasons why the RAW format appeared instead of FAT / NTFS, there are many methods to access the information stored on the device.

Checking the volume for bad sectors and errors

The first step to take if the file system of a disk or flash drive is defined as RAW is to check for corruption on the drive or its logical partition. For the case where the system volume is not defined, this recommendation will not work, but in other situations you should start with it.
Calling command line on behalf of account, which has system administrator privileges through WinX or the search bar.

In a black window, execute a command like: "chkdsk x: / f / r".
In this case:
x: - target volume;
/f - flag responsible for correcting errors;
/ r - the argument will allow you to find and fix bad sectors.

We are waiting for the operation to complete and try to open the problem volume.
If the error “chkdsk is invalid for RAW disks” appears, as in the screenshot, then the target volume is the system volume, and to check it, do the following.
Starting a PC from a Windows installation media of the same edition and bitness.
On the language selection screen, click Next.

Go to the diagnostics section and open the list of advanced options.

We start the command line.

We execute "diskpart".
With the "listvolume" command, we find out the letter of the problematic volume.
Exit diskpart by typing "exit" and confirming its execution with the "Enter" button.
We execute a command like "chkdsk x: / f / r".

Thus, it is possible to regain control over the disk without losing any data.

In this case, the inscription "chkdsk is not valid for RAW disks" should not appear, if this happens again - go to the next subsection of the article.

Checking the integrity of the files of the OS itself

Often, to convert RAW to NTFS, you just need to resuscitate system files. This is done no more difficult than searching for damaged drive partitions.
We call the "Run" window with the Win + R combination.
We execute "cmd" to launch the command line.
We execute "sfc / scannow" to launch a utility that will find and fix errors in the operating system.

Formatting a partition if important information is missing from it

A RAW disk or flash drive that does not contain any files (for example, you just purchased a device), important data is missing or it is duplicated, can be easily converted from RAW to NTFS using Windows tools.
We call the "Run" window using the keyboard shortcut Win + R.
We execute the line "diskmgmt.msc" to call the disk management utility.
Across context menu problematic partition, call the "Format" command.

We set the desired label and determine the file system (it is better to choose NTFS), then click "OK".
If removable hard the disk (its partition or flash drive) is not formatted, try disconnecting a removable device, if it is, and then plug it in and try again. In the case of an HDD, restart your PC, and be sure to terminate any programs that may be using the problematic volume.
Now you know how to fix the RAW format of HDDs and flash drives, but the formatted storage medium will not contain the original data. If the option to format the drive or disk is not suitable, move on.

HDD RAW Copy Tool

The HDD RAW Copy Tool is designed for sector-by-sector copying of media and allows you to extract all data from a problem device without losing data.
Download the utility from the official application support resource.
Install and run the HDD RAW Copy Tool and wait until the partitions found on the PC appear in the main frame.
We select the problem device from which we will subsequently recover information (a file system has appeared on it, defined as RAW).

Click "Continue".
Specify the file type as *.img to make an image of a recoverable disk.
It should be borne in mind here that when specifying the image storage path where all files from the RAW disk will fit, there must be more free space than the volume / drive itself that we will copy.

We return to the HDD RAW Copy Tool interface, where we click “Continue” again.

After that, you can safely open the generated image through a data recovery program that supports working with images, for example, R-Studio, and start restoring the necessary data, and format the newly copied media in NTFS.
How to recover data from an image, we will not paint in view of the large amount of information that is enough for another similar article.
On this HDD RAW Copy Tool can be closed.

DMDE

The previous method, although highly reliable, is still much safer and more reliable to work with the original source. Let's consider how to reanimate important files if a RAW format has appeared for one of the HDDs. Here we will do without formatting, so if a disk has become RAW, using the method described below, you can easily access all its files.
We go to dmde.ru and download the DMDE utility, which allows you to read a disk in a format such as RAW and restore it.
Working with the program consists of the following sequence of steps.
We select the physical disk where the partition with the raw file system is located, by checking the box “Phys. devices."

When the desired partition is found, select it and click "Open Volume".
If this does not happen, we scan the media, the file system of one of the partitions of which has become defined as RAW.

We open the volume and look at its contents - whether those files are on it.

If everything is correct, click "Restore" and confirm the restoration of the boot sector.

If everything goes well, after a short time, the DMDE program will recover the lost partition without introducing a change, and return it to its previous file system.

Attention! If the system volume was problematic and the recovery was performed by booting from another disk or after installing the media on another computer, you will additionally have to reanimate the bootloader.

Test Disk

The TestDisk program is the most difficult to use, but it also best recovery volumes with FS RAW. Running installed application, do the following:

Click "Create", then select the target partition.

We determine the type of partitions, if this did not happen automatically (MBR or progressive GPT).
Click on "Analyze" and press "Enter".
On the next screen, press "Enter" again, selecting "Quick Search".
We find a partition for data recovery from a disk with the RAW file system.
To view the files stored on it, press the Latin "P", exit from the preview mode - the "Q" button. If a partition is marked P, it can be reanimated, volumes marked D will not be restored.

Make sure that the table shown on the screen, which it will be after resuscitation, is correct.
Here you should be sure of the correctness of the choice, but it is also not worth becoming a coward and doing nothing.
Select "Write" and confirm the action by clicking "Y" in order to perform RAW recovery.

The change will take effect after you restart Windows.

On this topic "how to change the file system if the disk is in RAW format" can be considered fully covered. As you can see, there are absolutely no difficulties in solving the problem.

Sometimes the file system of our drives can be damaged for certain reasons and become unreadable inside the operating system. Windows systems, it becomes RAW format. Windows will not be able to open the contents of the device and will prompt you to format the card. V otherwise, if you do not confirm this offer, the system will notify you of an error every time you try to view any file.

Many users may panic if they experience this problem, but do not get upset ahead of time. Below we present simple instructions, following which you will quickly restore not only your drive, but also all valuable data. These methods can be useful for both the SD card and any other drive.

Using CMD to Fix a RAW File System
without the need for formatting

The classic way to restore a drive in case of any logical damage, including RAW, is to fix a problem on it using the utility chkdsk through command cmd line. Being free Windows tool to repair disk partitions, chkdsk becomes the first way to resolve the issue with a faulty device.

Upon completion of the above two steps, CMD will fix the error on your SD card, if you're lucky, saving all the data on it. Unfortunately, from time to time during the first recovery method, you may receive an error message “RAW File System” or “CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives”. How to deal with such an error, we wrote in this article.