I can't access my external HDD and it shows up as "local disk (K)". Chkdsk told me file system is RAW. I want to keep my data

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TomScheeper

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Jul 25, 2014
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Two years ago I bought this USB2.0 2TB WD External Harddrive. I've got 1.5TB of data stored on it which is very very valuable to me (mostly old pictures and YouTube videos).

The problem is, I can't access the HDD since today. It shows up as Local Disk ( K : ) and whenever I try to right click on it in order to open the properties, explorer just freezes and I need to force close it using taskmanager. I've already run a chkdsk k: on it, and it said the directory is RAW. I've read on other fora that this means the "partitioning table" is broken, or not? The cause for this is due to removing the USB or power supply of the HDD while it's still running and connected to the computer. I have forcely removed it a lot of times because the USB power supply exceeded and I had to reconnect some USB wires in order for my mouse or mic to work.

Anyway, the thing I want to know is how I can fix my HDD without losing my precious data.

Thanks in advance.
 

mickyyyyy

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Sep 13, 2014
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I solved my problem thats very similar to yours a literally 30 mins ago.My WD HDD partition was shown by windows 7 as "raw"I aint technical but persisted.I changed the driver letter through disk management from K to either I OR L(in my case).Then i opened command prompt and typed chkdsk L: /f.Took about 5 mins then the autoplay pop up Miraculous appeared automatically after scan finished,all files in check.Worth mentioning - i had "need to format disk" and "cycle redundancy" errors too!
 

csdordor

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Sep 18, 2014
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You're a lifesaver literally. The method couldn't be easier. I'm shocked to say the least. HALLELUYAH!
 

Paulip

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Oct 1, 2014
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you're my hero...I'm technical and have been struggling all night on what I thought was a dead hard drive...my reinstall discs were failing and I couldn't get to my data...ran chkdsk /f and it came right up in 5 min

 

mabdo1

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Oct 3, 2014
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@mickyyyyy
OMG!!! Thank you! Thank you!!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!! Your solution solved my problem too!!!! I was panicking that all my data would be lost.
I could just kiss you now! :)
 

Anbu Azhagan

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Oct 26, 2014
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Anbu Azhagan

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Hi micky, I tried to solve the same problem in my external hard disc. But I couldn't change the drive name in Windows7. I was able to edit only the words "Local disk" after editing and press the enter key, a message appears and shows "The vvolume label is not valid. please enter a valid volume label." I was not able to edit the drive letter"G". Please help me to solve this.
 

hma76

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Nov 5, 2014
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I tried the same solution, I changed the drive letter and tried CHKDSK, did not work, gave me the same error
"The type of the file system is RAW.
CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives."
I do need the data on that drive. It is 2TB, I use Windows 7 home OS.
I appreciate further help on this, thanks
 
All users: Please read the forum rules and don't "hijack" a post with "I have a similar (or the same) problem." Please open a new post and ask for help; you can include a link to this thread if you think that this thread is relevant but your problem is not completely solved.

Thank you
 
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