When an external hard drive, USB flash drive or any partition in a Windows computer takes a RAW format, there comes a number of possibilities. A RAW file can show up because of reasons like inability of your computer to recognize the file system of the disk. Or it is possible that there is no file system in your disk or the partition is damaged for some reason.
Windows usually supports FAT, NTFS, exFAT and ReFS file systems. However, if you try connecting an external hard drive with an AFPS system then the computer tends to show the drive as RAW.
When the file you have has RAW format, it is not of much use anymore. So the question is how to convert RAW to NTFS without losing any data? Well, before we explain the conversion of RAW to NTFS, it is necessary that you restore all the data from corrupted files and a good data recovery software enables you to get lost files easily. The best tool for recovering data is Advanced Disk Recovery.
For this, follow the steps below.
Step 1: Download Advanced Disk Recovery on your PC and install it.
Step 2: Select the area to be scanned amongst the options available.
Step 3: Choose the type of scan amongst Quick scan and Deep scan.
Step 4: Let the scanning take place and the result appear on the screen. Choose the file you wish to recover, preview it and recover it instantly.
This thing known, let us learn how to change RAW to NTFS without losing data.
How To Convert RAW to NTFS?
Method 1: Using CMD Without Formatting
In case you don’t wish to format your RAW drive, you can still choose the conversion using CMD method. Follow the steps below for the same.
Step 1: Click Start on the screen and type :cmd here. Press Enter.
Step 2: Right click on cmd and click ‘Run as administrator’.
Step 3: Here, type ‘diskpart’ and hit enter.
Step 4: Type H: /FS: NTFS and press enter. (here, H is the drive for RAW storage device).
You will see that your RAW file is fixed and there is no formatting happening. However, it is most common that this method fails while giving out the error ‘CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives’.
Method 2: Using Disk Management
This method does include formatting of the drive but you can change RAW to NTFS easily. For the same, follow the steps mentioned below.
Step 1: Open This PC or Disk Management and here, right click on the RAW partition drive. Select Format.
Step 2: In the next pop up, set Volume Label, File System (NTFS) and Allocation unit size. As the default option is already Quick Format, click OK to move ahead.
Step 3: After the reformatting is done, access and use the RAW file or the drive just as normal as possible.
Fixing RAW Format Hard Drive
Here are some of the methods which will help you with fixing file system errors as well as drive corruption. Although if you don’t feel that these fixes have worked out, you can still get the data back in your system. For the same, check the fixes.
- Run Error Checking Tool: For this, open File Explorer and right click on RAW format. In case the drive is not there, use the Disk Management tool and place a letter to it. Make sure that you do not format the drive. In Properties > open Tools tab. Click the Check button. Click Scan Drive next.
- Now let the system finish the process after which you can restart the computer. However, keep in mind that you click ‘No’ to any prompt which appears after you click ‘Check’.Â
- Run CHKDSK scan: Press Windows + S and type cmd here. Right click on ‘Command Prompt’ and select Run as administrator. In the next window, type ‘chkdsk /r /f X:’and press Enter. Note that X is the letter which denotes the drive that turned RAW.
Conclusion
We hope that you have understood the best ways to convert RAW to NTFS already and will be able to make changes without going through hassle. In fact, you can also use a good partition master, for example, EaseUS partition master for migrating OS to SSD, increase C drive space and wipe a disk or delete a partition. All the three methods mentioned above including CMD, disk management as well as software can help you convert RAW to NTFS very smoothly. All you have to do is start the process and get the conversion done. And if you format the partition for any reason, get ready for recovery using Advanced Disk Recovery.
