RAW file system recovery

"RAW filesystem" issue typically occurs when the filesystem type information is missing or inconsistent between several system tables. Such an issue is often associated with external drives unplugged without "Safely removing" them first. The tables often get damaged during unsafe removal.

The "RAW filesystem" is generally recovered quite well. The typical scenario is to recover data from a device with a RAW filesystem, then format the device and copy the recovered data back to the device.

The most typical symptom of RAW filesystem is that Windows prompts "You need to format the disk before you can use it"

Important: do not format the disk if you need to recover data from it.

RAW filesystem recovery using ReclaiMe data recovery software

1. Make sure you have enough free space on a known-good drive or on a network to hold all the recovered data.
2. Download, install, and run ReclaiMe data recovery software.
3. Identify the drive with a RAW filesystem in the device list. Most likely, it will have RAW listed as a filesystem type.
   
   (need help identifying your drive?).
4. Double click that drive to start the recovery.
5. The files are displayed as soon as they are discovered.
6. Select the file(s) or folder(s) you want to recover, and click Save button on the toolbar. Alternatively, click Save and select Save All from the menu.
7. After the data is copied, verify that the files were recovered correctly by actually opening and reviewing them.
8. Once the successful recovery is confirmed, reformat the drive and put it back to use.

Additional information about RAW file system

RAW filesystem is a filesystem which was not recognized by Windows. This means all the available filesystem drivers refused to mount the filesystem. This happens mostly if the records determining the filesystem type are damaged, most typically the partition table or the boot sector.

The volume which was created (using Disk Management) but not yet formatted is also indicated as RAW filesystem.

• CHKDSK reports error message
  

  The type of the file system is RAW. CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives.

• Disk Management indicates the drive file system is "RAW"
  

Other useful information

The RAW file system website, www.raw-file-system.com, provides additional information. This includes RAW term definitions and also some preventive measures to avoid a RAW filesystem problem.

Read more about common filesystem types used by Windows, Linux, and Mac operating systems.