What is RAW Partition and How to Recover Files?

There are times when you connect any external drive into your PC to work on but it suddenly showed you an error message about RAW files or partition. You are unable to do anything since you cannot open or view the files inside. What will you do? What is a RAW Partition?

Part 1. What is RAW Partition?Part 2. How to Quickly Recover Files from a RAW Partition?Part 3. Fix and Convert RAW Partition to NTFSPart 4. Summary

Part 1. What is RAW Partition?

A RAW partition is a state or condition of the hard drive or any storage device wherein Windows cannot read or access because it was not formatted as FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, NTFS or NTFS5.

Since there are no file systems located in the drive, your files are also not located or inaccessible and the drive can no longer be used, unless it will be formatted.

Fortunately, you are still able to recover your files even from a RAW partition and this is what we will be learning in this new post.

Part 2. How to Quickly Recover Files from a RAW Partition?

So far, the easiest and fastest way to recover files from a RAW partition is to use a recovery programs. Among the best programs out there, FoneDog Data Recovery has many benefits to offer especially data recovery from various drives and partitions.

Even if you got a RAW partition, you are still able to recover different file types like your documents, pictures, videos, and others.

Data Recovery Recover deleted image, document, audio and more files. Get deleted data back from computer (including Recycle Bin) and hard drives. Recover loss data caused by disk accident, operation system crushes and other reasons. Free Download Free Download

What devices are supported?

• Computers (also includes the Recycle Bin)
• USB
• Digital Cameras
• Removable Storages
• Hard Drive
• And Memory Cards

It doesn’t matter what computer brand or model you are using since FoneDog Data Recovery is compatible with almost all kinds of brands.

How to recover files from RAW partition with FoneDog Data Recovery?

Step 1. Install and Launch the Software

First thing you need to do in order to recover files from a RAW partition is to download, install and launch the software.

Step 2. Select Types of Files and Disk Drive

After you have launched the software, make sure that the RAW partition or drive is visible on your computer. Once you have established a stable connection, you then need to select the types of files you need to recover as well as tick the RAW drive and click Scan.

Step 3. Scan the RAW Partition to Begin Recovery

Based upon the selected files from the previous step, FoneDog Data Recovery software will then scan the RAW partition in order to recover the files. You have to choose between the two types of scanning mode, Quick and Deep scan. Both will yield results but the last one will actually take some time.

Step 4. Preview Files and Recover

When the scanning is completed, you can now see all the recovered files displayed on your screen. Each item is listed according to the file category you have selected onset of the recovery.

You can preview and mark the files you need and click the Recover button to download and save them on your computer.

Now that you have recovered the files from the RAW partition, it’s time to fix it and make it usable again. Find out the possible methods on how to convert a RAW partition in the next parts below.

Part 3. Fix and Convert RAW Partition to NTFS

Formatting is the only solution in order to fix RAW partition or a RAW file system. However, doing this will totally wipe out all the data inside and you might end up suffering from severe data loss.

If you followed the above recommendation to recover the files using FoneDog Data Recovery prior to formatting, then you still have your files safe and you can proceed with formatting.

There are two ways you can format and convert a RAW partition. Choose which among these methods will work for you:

Fix and Convert via Disk Management

Here are the steps on how to fix and convert the RAW partition to NTFS File System:

1. On your Desktop or File Explorer, locate This PC or My Computer and right-click
2. Scroll and select Manage. Go to Storage and then select Disk Management
3. Find the RAW partition and right-click and then choose Format
4. Under the File System Option, choose NTFS and then start the formatting process. Remember to provide the correct formatting information such as the file system and the volume label
5. Wait until the formatting is completed

Format RAW Partition Using CMD

The next method to format and convert a RAW partition is by using the CMD in Windows. Follow this guide below on how to use the CMD prompt to fix the RAW file system and make it usable.

1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run feature.
2. Type in cmd in the field and hit Enter
3. Enter the following sequences:
   1. List disk (this will display the number of the disk on your computer)
   2. Select disk # (the # refers to the disk number of the RAW partition)
   3. Clean (CMD will then clean the selected disk)
   4. Create partition primary
   5. Format fs=ntfs quick (this will now convert the RAW partition into NTFS. If you want to convert it to other file systems like FAT32 or exFAT, then simply change the NTFS to fat32 or exfat)
4. You will then see a success message displayed at the bottom which says Diskpart successfully formatted the volume.

The best thing about these two methods on how fix and convert RAW partition is that they are both free and within the Windows features. You don’t need third-party programs to fix the damaged partition.

Data Recovery Recover deleted image, document, audio and more files. Get deleted data back from computer (including Recycle Bin) and hard drives. Recover loss data caused by disk accident, operation system crushes and other reasons. Free Download Free Download

Part 4. Summary

We have finally learned what is RAW partition and how to fix it in this new post. It is essential to fix any RAW file system or storage by formatting so that you can still use it in the future.

However, bear in mind that before you format and convert a RAW file, you must first recover your files to avoid total data loss. Use FoneDog Data Recovery for fast, efficient, and guaranteed recovery.