Hard Drive is in RAW format.

[PyroStar]

This is perhaps the most important question I have ever asked... a drive with files I have been working on for 7 years is showing up RAW. The strange thing is when I run "chkdisk L:/f" my computer recognizes it as NTFS. Chkdsk also is able to read the Volume label and knows how much space is roughly being used. Whats even more strange is my computer doesn't prompt me to format the disk, which you would expect a RAW drive to do. I have been looking all over for a way to convert it to NTFS. Please is there a way. There really has to be right? I have found was of converting FAT to NTFS without damaging files. RAW however seems impossible.

 

[InvalidError]

Sounds like the partition table got damaged. Your best/safest option might be to use file recovery software in RAW/deep-scan mode to recover your most important files without modifying the HDD's content before attempting anything else, such as attempting to manually restore the partition table. That way, at least your most important stuff will be safe elsewhere even if things go wrong.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Your drive has suffered some kind of damage. It may be "software" damage - just a corrupted file system. But it may as well be hardware damage.
First thing to do is check SMART data of your drive.
HDtune health section can provide you with that info. Post screenshot, if you don't know how to interpret the data.

 

[InvalidError]

If SMART does turn up any sort of issue, then it might be a good idea to look into software that can do a RAW disk copy and do your file recovery on that since a failing HDD might not survive through the lengthy deep-scan and file recovery process.

 

[PyroStar]

Sounds like the partition table got damaged. Your best/safest option might be to use file recovery software in RAW/deep-scan mode to recover your most important files without modifying the HDD's content before attempting anything else, such as attempting to manually restore the partition table. That way, at least your most important stuff will be safe elsewhere even if things go wrong.

Can you recommend a software?

 

[InvalidError]

If you want to do a raw copy to another HDD just in case, there's HDD RAW Copy Tool which can backup a HDD in raw format either to a new HDD or a file.

For file recovery, there are many utilities to choose from. Personally, I have had the best luck using File Scavenger but many people recommend Recuva or Pandora Recovery instead.