Cancelled an internal HDD format (laptop); drive is now RAW and unusable.

[AwkwardStyle]

I have looked and looked with no solution found (that I have been able to successfully follow/understand entirely). I've seen various posts from many different sites and searches, but not one that quite answers/fixes my problem. This is my first time post, but I have read for many, many years; usually by the end of my read the problem is resolved, but not this time.

I have three internal storage devices in my laptop (2 SSDs, 1 HDD). I was using (Windows 10) Disk Management and wanted to format my larger SSD into a storage location (it was previously my OS drive). I was not thinking clearly, and chose the HDD. This (1TB) HDD was already a storage drive for various files (mostly photos, videos, backups, etc.) By "chose" I unfortunately mean "right-click, format ([unchecked quick format]slow format), begin".

After about 3 minutes my brain booted back up and realized the error I just made. The format completed 2% or 3% and I clicked cancel as soon as possible. Now, I believe I had around 800GB of data on this drive. So "in theory" and in my "not-as-competent-as-most-posters-on-this-forum" mind, I only lost 2-3 percent of those 800GBs worth of files.

So, the drive afterwards became RAW and unusable. Claiming to "need formatting before using..." and such. I have used EaseUS data recovery and backed up ALL files it found. I have also tried many, many times to try and us TestDisk 7.0, with absolute and 100% failure (likely due to improper use/understanding) to "repair the partition".

All I want to know/accomplish is if turning this RAW drive directly back into NTFS without any further formatting is possible? Ideally there would be a quick check-box "turn RAW drive into NTFS" in some system folder I can't find. I just want to be able to use the drive as it was before the 2-3 percent format with all the 97%-98% REMAINING files in place. My files were very specifically organized/named. Years and years worth, plus an unknown amount of data that doesn't come to mind and wasn't back up...

Is this RAW-to-NTFS banter I speak of possible? If there is an advanced/detailed solution, I am willing to follow ALL advice/recommendations, but please remember my tech-level isn't very high so I would appreciate a "dumbed down" version, as I have gotten lost a few times on other guides that didn't work for me. Granted, after all this time, I don't think I found a 100% similar situation/question as this one.

Any and all wisdom welcome.

Thank you.

 

[DSzymborski]

Unfortunately, there's no magic solution to issues like this - you've damaged the file system. It's not like, say, converting an AVI file to an MP4 file.

If you're going to be successful with TestDisk, you'll need to steps like this:

https://www.m3datarecovery.com/partition-recovery/raw-partition-recovery-testdisk.html

Failing that, your path is realistically formatting the hard drive and manually reconstructing your folders from your recovered files with lots of renaming and moving around. Annoying, but many people who don't protect their data in any way whatsoever frequently get harsher lessons than a hassle. That's why I always urge people to have a solid backup plan, which really is a basic part of PC upkeep, like changing your furnace filter or the oil in your car - data not backed up merely exists temporarily.