In this article we will focus on the main reasons why storage devices become RAW, and offer some solutions to fix this problem.
Introduction
Sometimes the operating system can’t see a hard disk or an external drive when trying to address it, and such storage device is then shown as an uninitialized or RAW device, and its storage space is identified as empty or unallocated.
No wonder such news sounds like all your data in such device can be lost for good, and it makes any user worried. Unpleasant as it is, this situation doesn’t mean you can no longer access your data. Any problems related to the operating system being unable to detect the storage device do not suggest your data is gone, but only mean the computer cannot detect the internal structure of the disk and display its contents.
Fixing most initialization issues involves using specialized software which can correct errors, restore access to the hard disk and help get the lost data back. In this article we will focus on the main reasons why storage devices become RAW, and offer some solutions to fix this problem.
Devices Detected as Having RAW File System
YouTube:
The operating system controlling proper operation of a computer and all devices connected to it is permanently running diagnostics and testing of all elements and parts to ensure mutual access and smooth interaction. When an external storage is connected or an internal storage is addressed, and the operating system receives an incorrect response or is unable to identify the file system of the storage device, it tries to detect the cause of the problem and often assigns the RAW label to such device.
Such label is not actually a specific type of file system but rather an indication that the format of some unallocated storage space is not identified.
Every file system is arranged in a certain way which determines how data is accounted, allocated, written and stored; it has a certain format type and a set of attributes for the contents of the storage device.
When the operating system tries to identify the file system and fails to receive a response on the inner capacity of the device and its file system, it decides to label such device as undefined – that is, RAW.
In simple words, the operating system cannot match the file system of such device with the formats it knows and it cannot select suitable drivers to ensure access and proper operation of such device.
In most cases, a RAW label indicates possible file system issues, damage to its structure or allocation table that make the device unable to respond to queries it receives from the operating system.
Sometimes such device cannot be initiated because of some inconformity between the device and the operating system, external influences and other factors which we will cover a bit later.
What Causes a Drive to be Recognized as RAW
In most cases, a partition is displayed as RAW due to a sort of logical damage directly related to certain physical hardware or software errors that can cause issues in the work of various devices.
Sometimes, the inability to identify a device is related to its having an unknown file system which cannot be recognized by this operating system, or it may also happen because there is an absolutely clean storage device with its space unallocated at all. In the first case, you need to connect a disk to the device with an operating system capable of recognizing and supporting such disk. For a new disk, the operating system will suggest to format it and get ready for use.
This action is required as any read / write operations with data are impossible as long as there is no file system. When looking at the new disk, you will see that the amount of free disk space is only 0 bytes.
Here are some symptoms heralding possible issues when the operating system cannot access certain devices:
- Errors in identifying the storage device type when trying to read its contents;
- Regular error warnings from the operating system when trying to access a storage device;
- The operating system asking to format a hard disk for further use;
- Missing file system or file system being identified as RAW;
- Inability to open or move specific files, unauthorized changes in file names or incorrect symbols appearing in file names;
- Regular warnings from the operating system about difficulties in determining sectors and blocks;
- Limited access or no access to the contents of a storage device.
As soon as you notice such things, move important data to another device to prevent loss of information.
Actually, the number of factors to make an operating system unable to detect and access a storage device could be quite long. Yet most problems result from one of the following:
- Presence of bad sectors: A device can have a certain number of bad sectors due to some design peculiarities or technological processes used when producing it, but their initial number is limited and such block are not used to write data. But when this number is growing, it suggests there are processes underway that can damage the partition table (e.g. MBR), boot sector of the file system or the master file table (MFT), Which immediately affects the ability of the operating system to identify such device properly.
- External factors: Voltage swings when writing data to a storage device, reading data or accessing the device, errors in applications when addressing the storage device, system errors – all of these can result in a disk becoming RAW.
- Harmful effects of various malware: damaged sectors, infected files or even entire drives can block access to a storage device so it is displayed as having RAW format. Depending on the infestation rate and functionality of the antivirus software, restoring access to a storage device may require more efforts than you would expect.
- Physical damage and wrong user actions: Specific types of physical damage such as damaged platters, write/read heads, excessive physical pressure when connecting or disconnecting the disk, improper installation, disconnection before edit/write/read/move/format processes are complete – these factors can also result in a hard disk acquiring the RAW format. Sometimes, cables or connectors may get out of order, especially after power failures. Connectors is the part that gets damaged most often as they are frequently plugged in and out which may cause the connection quality to deteriorate.
Uninitialized RAW Partitions in Western Digital My Book Disks
Some types of hard disks designed to be used inside special housings will be displayed as RAW partitions when you try to take them out of the housing and connect directly to your computer. One of them is an external disk Western Digital My Book which applies its Smartware hardware encryption to secure its data.
With Western Digital My Book, all your data is encrypted by default, even if you didn’t care to set up a password. The USB-SATA connecting element is in charge of all encryption and decryption operations. Without it, all you can see is encrypted data. Even the boot sector and file blocks are encrypted and cannot be identified by the operating system, so the disk is displayed as RAW.
If such external drive stops working and cannot be read by the computer, it is worth checking the connecting element. If the drive is good and the problem is in the connecting element, you need to use special methods to decrypt the data and restore access to its partitions.
Restoring access to RAW partitions without losing data
Note: Intentionally, we do not consider a case with a hard disk damaged physically as its recovery is impossible with software means only.
As a rule, the easiest way to recover a disk that wouldn’t initialize is to remove the current RAW partition and create a new file system by way of formatting. However, this way you will lose all data which is unacceptable in most cases. If the information on the disk is of little value, formatting will fix the problem and make it good for future use.
Open the Windows File Explorer and right-click on the RAW partition. From the list of available actions, select Format.
Otherwise, use the system warning suggesting to format the disk when you try addressing it – just click Format disk. In the window that opens, select the necessary file system and click Start to start formatting. When the process is over, the partition will be ready for writing and storing new data.
However, if the information contained in the uninitialized RAW partition is of some importance to you and you’d like to restore access to the disk without losing the data, it is worth trying specialized software. You can use any of the products listed below to achieve this goal. Try each tool one after another until you restore access and recover your data.
Unfortunately, the pre-installed tool CHKDSK you can find inside operating systems from MS-DOS to Microsoft Windows cannot work with disks having the RAW format. Despite being designed for checking hard disks for file system errors, finding physically damaged sectors, fixing errors and recovering bad sectors contents, it is unable to help you if the disk acquired this strange format. If you try to run CHKDSK for a RAW partition, the computer will try identify the file system in such partition. Then it will show you a warning of a RAW partition detected and inform you that further actions are impossible.
Recovering Files from a RAW Partition with TestDisk
To restore the original file system for a disk with an unknown file system (RAW) without formatting, try a free command-prompt tool, TestDisk.
It is mostly used as a means to restore data by way of recovering lost partitions and rebooting the disk that will not work properly if the problem comes from software errors, certain types of malware, or wrong user actions. TestDisk can also be used to fix some file system errors.
It does not require any installation: Just download the file from the developer’s website, extract it and run the file testdisk_win.exe. The console interface of TestDisk allows using it with devices running various versions of Windows operating systems (32 or 64 bit) as well as Linux and Mac OS.
At the bottom of the program window, there are several options to choose from. Use the keyboard arrow keys to navigate to No Log, and then press Enter.
The new screen will show you the list of connected storage devices, so you can use the arrow keys to select the disk having the RAW format. The capacity of the selected disk should coincide with the values provided by the manufacturer and the program should identify them properly to ensure successful recovery. If the disk space is detected in a wrong way, check disk settings in BIOS, install the latest operating system updates and disk driver. Make sure the Proceed button is selected and press Enter.
In the next window, select the partition table type. Usually, the program detects this type automatically as Intel for MBR partitions or EFI GPT for GPT. Still, in some cases the program may switch to None when it has difficulties in detecting the partition table type for the selected disk. You can agree to the automatic choice or specify the partition table type manually and then press the Enter key to continue.
In the next page, choose Analyze to analyze the current structure and find the lost partitions.
When the analysis is complete, press Enter to run the command Quick Search.
If the next window shows the partition with P marking and highlighted in green, it can be recovered. Choose the partition you need and press Enter.
In the new window, you will be show this partition, so select Write.
After that (in some cases, you will have to restart the computer additionally) the utility will restore the original partition table and file system (mostly these are either NTFS or FAT32) of the RAW disk so you will be able to access the files in such disk.
Using HDD Raw Copy Tool
The free program HDD Raw Copy Tool by HDDGURU is designed to perform sector-by-sector copying of contents from various storage devices (hard disks, USB drives, memory cards of various formats, and SSDs). This tool will make a detailed sector-by-sector copy of the entire storage device, including the main partition table of the MBR, boot records, all partitions (including hidden), as well as the free space between them. HDD Raw Copy Tool can be used on devices running various operating systems (Windows, Linux, Mac OS) with any number of partitions.
This tool is designed for various actions such as transferring one hard disk contents to another, creating operating system images and backups, and recovering data as well. You can create a copy of the damaged disk and try to recover it, or copy the uninitialized RAW disk and skip damaged sectors to access the data which is still intact.
HDD Raw Copy Tool is easy to use so even novice users will have no difficulty in restoring their data.
Read the full article with all additional video tutorials. Also visit our Youtube channel, there are over 400 video tutorials.
Top comments (0)