RAW file system !!!!!!

shadispire

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Mar 31, 2012
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Hi every body :|

in simple words i have this problem:

i woke up today to find that my e:\ partition (which is 500 WD HD) was somehow in RAW file system and i can't access any files on it.
i read this article about this problem in thins forum
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/153921-35-converting-format-ntfs-losing-data

and found many possible solutions!!

which is the best one! considering that i need my files in their FOLDER LAYOUT! I will not be able to reorganize them! it's 500 GB!!!

some one mentioned that downloading windows 9x vmware will allow me to get access to that HD and copy the folders from it and then (format the hell out of that annoying RAW drive and move on with your life :) as he said)
is that right?

my greatest purpose is to restore the FOLDERS with all their contents. Could anyone help me plsssssssssssssssss :cry:
 

lafontma

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Jan 4, 2006
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Running a VM will in no way help you. The VM will still see the file system as RAW.

Raw means that all information referring to the partition and the file system have been lost.

Dont panic, most file recovery software are able to recover the partition information just dont write anything to that drive and dont try formating it since you will loose the information
 

RealBeast

Titan
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Use Recuva -- run it on your machine to be able to access the files on the e: drive. Get it from here: http://www.piriform.com/recuva

If that one (which is free) does not work, which it occasionally doesn't, Easeus Data Recovery Wizard will, but it is not free: http://www.easeus.com/datarecoverywizard/
 

shadispire

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Mar 31, 2012
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Thanks every body
but what do you suggest to do? taking in consider that i need to recover the Folders not the Files.
 

shadispire

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Mar 31, 2012
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Thanks every body
but what do you suggest to do? taking in consider that i need to recover the Folders not the Files.
 

szaboaz

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Dec 9, 2011
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Just because they are called "file recovery tools", it doesn't necessarily mean, that they can't recover folders. Try the free one, the Recuva what it can come up with. Then try some demo ones, like GetDataBack. They will generate a tree structure after a scan, so you'll see, what do you have directory-wise.

If you feel lucky, try the partition recovery tool ( http://www.easeus.com/partition-recovery/ I don't have experience with this, but people used to suggest it here ).
 

liviu81x

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Apr 20, 2009
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Isn't there any utility that can rewrite the MFT so that the system can see the partition back ?

I recently had a similar problem after using Partition magic, as, at startup, PM said there are some errors at LBA 162,000,xxx and the file size lenght is incorrect and that it can repair this problem. I chose yes and then the hard drive appeared bad in PM and windows 7 could not read the data nor the partitions, they were there but they didn't have any status (not raw, not unallocated, not anything). When I booted up in Windows MiniPe, total commander saw the partitions just fine, I could recover the files normally, but I had over 300 GB and that took a loooot of time. So I tried every partition utility and they all know how to recover files, but not how to recover partitions. That's why I hate them (the recovery utilities I mean). I should have tried R-Undelete, maybe it could have done the job.
 

szaboaz

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Why don't you use a tool from the drive manufacturer (like SeaTools) to do a low level formatting?
 

liviu81x

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Apr 20, 2009
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Well, it's not about the formatting, (the drive is 5 months old, WD, works fine) I already quick formatted the partitions after the back-up but I didn't want to copy all that information, format and then copy the information back, it's crazy. I will back everything up again, delete all three partitions, format and repartition the 500 HDD I have in 65, 200, 200 GB (Win7, important data, downloads and everyday use).

Now, when I wanted to copy data back on the partitions, the copy progress is as low as 26 kbps, close to freezing. I'm sure it's partition Magic to be blamed here, I booted u to another drive and the result is the same.
 

szaboaz

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Dec 9, 2011
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So have you tried any of the above mentioned software? Recuva? GetDataBack? Do they "see" the drive?
What does the Easeus Partition Recovery tool see (you don't need to make changes, just gather some "intelligence").

It's interesting that Windows XP can see the files (even after the quick format??). I wonder if you tried to use the drive with an Ubuntu Live CD/USB, what would that make out of it...

PS. you can edit your comments. If "Edit" button doesn't work, try "Quick Edit".
 

liviu81x

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Apr 20, 2009
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I got the edit comment thing, thanks.

Well, it wasn't clean XP but MiniPE, you know, the live bootable CD. I saw the data and copied it before the formatting, after that, of course, everythhing was wiped. Didn't use Recuva or R-Undelete, but I used GetDataBack, Easeus and few others which I didn't like. All the software that I used could see the partitions but none of them could do anything but just scan for data and arrange it by type, which sucks. With Easeus, I could explore the partition and see everything, I could have even copied what I needed, although I'm intrigueed by the fact that I couldn't find any software that could restore the partitions like undo what Partition Magic did.
I didn't try XP installation on a separate drive to check nor the Ubuntu Live CD.
 

manu89

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Nov 16, 2012
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My external HDD asks for format; gives CRC error; window says it RAW; and it can't be accessed at all.
tried testdisk; chkdsk.
gone through so many suggestions but have no luck yet.
plz suggest something
 

johni3

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Dec 6, 2012
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RAW file system is a kind of original file system before format, which cannot be recognized by Windows. Therefore, naturally, you need to format this drive and change the RAW into NTFS or Fat 32, which is the files system after the format. However, considering of the data inside it, you need a recovery program. I would recommend you to apply a free drive recovery tool, which is reliable. It provides you four recovery types and enables you to preview the scanned data before saving. It is worth trying. You can get it there:

Change RAW to NTFS without any Data LOSS
http://www.squidoo.com/change-raw-to-ntfs-without-any-data-loss

You should try it step by step:
Step1. Stop using drive immediately. Any new data on this drive may decrease the chances of successful data recovery.
Step2. Plunge it to your computer.
Step3. Download this free SD card recovery tool to your computer and install it.
Step4. Select the “Advanced Files Recovery” option. Of course, you can select one from four as you like.
Step5. Click your drive and “Recover” button in the right corner to start scanning.
Step6. Choose wanted files to recover. Of course, you can also preview whether the file is the wanted one.
Step7. Save your recovered files. (Don’t store the recovered data to this drive in case of recovery failure.)
Step8. Format your drive.
Thank you so much that I did get all my lost photos from the raw sd card with the tip and the freeware you recommend.

Thumb up for your post. A million thanksssssssssssss.
 

Eric Ha

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Jan 31, 2014
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I support Windows server for a living. I have not experienced this problem in the professional environmnet. I do have friends and family who call me at the first sign of trouble (many of you know what I'm talking about). On that side I have seen this 4 times in the last 6 months. Of those drives I've run testdisk on all. One recovered the entire file structure and I was able to get a good image, format and restore. The rest any file recovery software was able to recover all the data but not the structure, what a pita. The sample size may be small but that failure rate is pushing 8% which seems unreasonably high. I've been googling my ass off but have been unable to find any direction on the underlying cause. Has anyone else seen this issue where the system partition corrupts and shows as raw but the rest of the drive is fine? Possibly it's just bad luck but this issue is really getting on my nerves.
 

Abot

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Feb 6, 2014
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When having a raw error on my flash usb, I cannot access my photo back to 3 years. I think I got a lesson from not backing up regularly. I am glad that I still get 80% of lost data.

 

xrhstos7003

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Apr 13, 2014
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You can't use chkdsk in raw "file system(?)". Raw means that windows lost all the info about the partition an dsome info from the files. U need either a recovery tool that is enough powerfull to access partitions with no info about them or a windows 95/98 copy (u can also use a ubuntu or mint live cd). The second option sometimes work and sometimes not (it depends on how big the damage is) and it is the best choise because you can keep the structure (folders etc.). Most recovery tools don't keep the structure, excluding one. I don't remember it's name, but I think it is Easus or something like that.
have a nice night
 

maze_runner

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Jan 1, 2015
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well i have 1 TB portable hard drive of western digital . one day while i was backing up my personal data there comes power failure which in turn resulted sudden computer shut down and when i switched on to continue the process i found out that my hard drive is not accessable i move to western digital local store but no solution tried to use recovery software but my hard drive not accessable and i could not even see my files on it .

one day i just connected same hard drive to samsung LED tv and wow i can watch all pics movies how ever i was unable to load smme drive on windows pc
after that i tried linux operating system and i got solution
my complete hard drive is accessable in linux and yes its now readable on windows pc

so plz try installing ubuntu in any old pc and just connect ur portable drive with it and no worries as i am now using same drive
hope it will solve ur problem