Read this article to learn more about recovering files from a flash drive or SD/MicroSD memory card switching to RAW file system after a failure, and how to fix such media. Is the file system of a USB flash drive or an SD, MicroSD memory card recognized as RAW? Are you at your wits’ end how to fix a RAW flash drive and recover the inaccessible data? Can’t format a memory card? Need to convert it into NTFS or FAT32 without losing data? Has the file system of a storage device changed in RAW – how to fix it? You will find answers to these and other questions in our article.
One of the most widespread issues with USB flash drives or memory cards is when their file system is suddenly recognized as RAW. This kind of damage makes it impossible to use the storage devices and all the information inside them becomes inaccessible. In today’s article, we’ll tell you how to fix this problem and recover files from your storage devices.
What is the RAW Format of a Flash Drive or Memory Card?
When a storage device is connected to a personal computer, the Windows operating system uses its own drivers and internal settings to identify the file system of such storage device and prepare it for proper operation. If, for some reason, Windows fails to identify the file system of the new removable medium, it is assigned the RAW marking.
Therefore, RAW is not a kind of file system in the general meaning of this term but rather a sign indicating that the file system of this specific device cannot be identified. Any file system has a certain correspondingly arranged method to organize, store and mark data on data carriers, and this method determines the format of file contents and the set of attributes for the files used with such file system. If drivers of the Windows operating system are incapable of identifying and referring the file system of a storage device to any known format, such device will be marked as RAW. Too often, it means that the file system of the USB flash drive or memory card has been damaged and doesn’t respond to queries sent by the operating system.
Sometimes, a storage device may have a file system which is not supported by the Windows operating system and so the device is also displayed as RAW medium. Yet it doesn’t imply that the storage device is damaged. All you need to do is to connect it to a computer with the operating system capable of identifying this particular file system.
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What Causes a Drive to be Recognized as RAW
Often, when a device is marked as RAW, it is a true sign that there is an error or a certain problem with the USB flash drive or a memory card. Only sometimes it happens because of an unknown file system or when you’re using an absolutely new drive that has not been formatted into any file system. This is a common situation to see this message from the operating system when you try to open a memory card or a «USB flash drive: You need to format the disk in drive … before you can use it».
If you open the Properties window for this drive, you will see that its file system changed to RAW and the free space is 0 bytes.
As a result, users cannot access their files or do anything to them as long as they are on such RAW storage device (for example, they cannot read the data, assign a drive letter, defragment it and so on). However, it doesn’t mean this device is useless now – you can restore its operability and recover the data stored on it is you use a few hints you will find below.
You can understand that the operating system faces difficulties when addressing a memory card or a USB flash drive by noticing certain signs that indicate that the device in question has switched to RAW format. Such warnings include as follows:
- Wrong identification of the device type when reading the drive;
- Numerous Windows system warnings that appear when you address the drive;
- In applications, the file system is shown as RAW or is not displayed at all;
- There is an error CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives;
- The Windows operating system asks you to format the disk when it is connected;
- File names contain unusual symbols, cannot be read and they are locked for any actions;
- There is notification that a sector cannot be identified or located;
- There is no access to the contents of the drive or memory card, it is restricted, or they are inaccessible.
Here are the typical causes behind problems with identifying the file system of a memory card or USB drive, all kinds of errors and these devices becoming inaccessible:
General external and internal factors. Power surges, power failures or voltage sags / interruptions that happen while data is being written to a storage device or read from it, failures in the work of an operating system or specific applications when using storage devices, availability of bad sectors that jeopardize the drive’s file system – all of these can result in your disk suddenly displayed as having RAW format.
USB flash drive or memory card is damaged by a virus. When the file system has been damaged by a virus, files or the entire drive may be recognized as RAW and become inaccessible. To prevent possible virus attacks it is important to use a decent antivirus program and keep its virus database updated.
Wrong user actions may result in damaging the USB flash drive or a memory card. Inserting the device the wrong way or at the wrong angle, or too much force applied when connecting it to, or disconnecting it from the computer, disconnecting a USB drive or memory card before read or write operations are finished, or interrupting the format process before it is complete can also result in damage to the file system and subsequently get the USB flash drive or memory card to be identified as having the RAW format.
Very rarely, there can be other things to stand in your way:
The USB drive is password protected. When a USB drive is password protected, the Windows operating system cannot read it or write data. At first you should unlock the device before connecting it to the computer so that Windows could interact with it.
The file system is incompatible with the operating system of the specific personal computer. Sometimes, user may accidentally format a memory card or USB drive into a particular format which cannot be recognized by the operating system when such device is connected. That is why you should always make sure that the file system of your removable drive is compatible with, and supported by the OS of the computer you are going to use it with.
Fixing a RAW Flash Drive or Memory Card
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The failure to recognize the file system of a USB flash drive or memory card makes it impossible to use these storage devices for their designated purpose, and creates certain difficulties in accessing the information previously saved to such devices. That is why it is important to eliminate the problem with the removable drive, restore operability of the device and all the data that it contains.
There are several simple ways to fix a RAW flash drive or memory card (SD, MicroSD).
Using the Standard CHKDSK Tool
In the Windows operating system, there are various pre-installed tools to assist users in diagnostics of the system and all devices connected to it, and to eliminate various issues affecting the entire system or only some of its essential elements. One of such tools is CHKDSK, which can examine any storage device for errors and fix them, search for damaged sectors (blocks) and exclude them from the list of those available for writing new data.
You can start the CHKDSK app from the command prompt with administrator rights. For example, click on the Start button in the lower left corner of your desktop, on the Taskbar, and type command or cmd in the search field. Among the results, find the line cmd.exe, right-click on it to open a context menu, and select Run as administrator from the list of available actions.
In the window of the command prompt with administrator rights, type the following command:
** chkdsk H: /f /r**
This command will start the CHKDSK application for partition H: (in our case), and the flags /f and /r will, respectively, set options for actions intended to run diagnostics of a USB flash drive or memory card, search for errors and fix them automatically, and for actions to find, identify and mark damaged sectors with subsequent recovery of their contents.
Yet it is not always possible to restore complete operability of a USB flash drive and SD / MicroSD memory card by using this method. Certain types of damage prevent the CHKDSK application from searching and correcting errors of a storage device. For example, if the information about the file system that is stored in the partition table of the master boot record (MBR) and boot sectors is damaged or cannot be found, the CHKDSK application won’t be able to fix the error and it will show a corresponding message: CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives.
It means that there is some damage that prevent the Windows standard tool from correcting the errors, so you will have to use another method.
Modify Security Settings of a USB Flash Drive or a Memory Card
In some cases, the file system of a device cannot be recognized because access is denied at the system level. That is why if modify some security settings in the application Local Security Policy you can fix the issue with RAW and restore access to a storage device.
Open the app in any way you prefer. For example, by pressing the Start button on the Taskbar go to the list of all applications, drag the slider down key to reach Windows Administrative Tools, and select Local Security Policy from the list.
In the window that opens, look at the left panel and select Local Policies, and in the right panel, double-click on Security Options, or right-click on it and choose Open in the context menu.
In the right panel of the Local Security Policy window, you will see security options for all available policies, with the settings for each one. Use the slider to go down the list and find the section Network access: Sharing and security model for local accounts. Open this section by double-clicking on it, or right-click on it and select Properties from the context menu.
In the Properties window, find Local Security Setting, open the nested menu and choose Classic – local users authenticate as themselves.
Then click Apply and OK to save the changes you have made to the network access policy. Now check if the USB flash drive or memory card can be accessed, and if it is possible to fix the RAW file system issue.
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