RAW file system for partitions and usb drive

[stuartmcalpine]

Hello,

My Vista PC shut down on me recently and when I restarted it said I needed to do a system repair. I done this and now Vista is working, but it is saying my D: and F: partitions are RAW. Previously they were NTFS and FAT and both hold documents.

I followed the instruction to export, delete and rebuild the boot sector here:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927392. Still, the are RAW.

I then downloaded TestDisk and put it to a USB stick to try and recover the data, but when I insert the USB drive it is also saying that the USB drive is RAW.

Does anyone have any ideas what is going on or how I might be able to diagnose the problem? The partitions have important data on there that isn't backed up as I was working on it the day of the fault.

(The kick in the nuts is that I created the partitions so that I could keep the data if there was an OS error and I needed to reformat C:!)

Cheers,

Stuart

 

[chookman]

Try and run a chkdsk on the volumes

chkdsk d: /v /r /x

This will sometimes pickup the file system and repair it.

 

[stuartmcalpine]

Cheers chookman,

I'll try that tomorrow. For now I have put the drive in a usb enclosure and plugged it in another laptop. All partitions are recognised up fine so I'm getting the data off while I can then I'll have a look at what I can do.

 

[Seth John]

If you fail in chkdsking, you may try to use some tool to help you.

A corrupt or missing boot sector will cause such kind of problem.

To fix the boot sector, you may refer to How to Fix the Boot Sector Problem?

If it still cannot be solved, you have to recover all the data out and then format the partition as the system indicates so that you can enter the partition again.

How to Recover Data from Raw Hard Drive?

 

[pisl2]

Usually disks have FAT or NTFS as its property and RAW as its name is not explored.

There are information about raw problem or disk report RAW in file system

You can learn what the raw error and what you should do with your RAW drive.

The thread is pretty old and if you did not fix the error here are some advice:

To format it if you don't mind the old data, you can use TestDisk or use Disk Management and then click format.

You will be able to select NTFS or FAT when deciding the property of your drive.

Good luck.

My first post here. Hope it works for you.

 

[johnmillins]

Usually disks have FAT or NTFS as its property and RAW as its name is not explored.

There are information about raw problem or disk report RAW in file system

You can learn what the raw error and what you should do with your RAW drive.

The thread is pretty old and if you did not fix the error here are some advice:

To format it if you don't mind the old data, you can use TestDisk or use Disk Management and then click format.

You will be able to select NTFS or FAT when deciding the property of your drive.

Good luck.

My first post here. Hope it works for you.

Thanks for the guide. I did restore my photos off the external drive F that has report RAW and not formatted error. I use Google and then find this page and then find this solution that worked for me.

 

[smartjohnny]

Hello,

My Vista PC shut down on me recently and when I restarted it said I needed to do a system repair. I done this and now Vista is working, but it is saying my D: and F: partitions are RAW. Previously they were NTFS and FAT and both hold documents.

You should try free Data Recovery , which I have personally applied to restore my data from the RAW drive. The result shows that it is really a free and efficient recovery tool unlike other expensive and depressing ones.