3+ Solutions: Cannot Format Raw Drive Error in 2022

format it. If your Seagate external hard drive is showing up as "Raw" and prompting you to format it, it's likely due to a corrupted file system or a faulty drive.format the disk in the drive before you can use it. However I try to open it, it prompts the message saying hard drive needs formatting. So I did it regardless of the important data there, what annoys me currently is that Raw drive cannot be fixed To repair a raw drive without losing data, you can try the following steps: 1) Stop using the drive immediately to prevent further damage. 2) Use a data recovery software like Deep Data Recovery Wizard to scan the drive and recover any accessible data. 3) If the drive is not accessible, try to repair it by running a disk check using the built-in Windows tool, Check Disk (chkdsk). 4) If the drive is still not accessible, you may need to use a more advanced data recovery tool like Deep Data Recovery Suite.

In such cases where formatting doesn't work, you can try using data recovery software to recover your data from the Raw drive. This can be a good option if you're unable to format the drive and want to salvage your files. However, keep in mind that using data recovery software may not always be successful, and it's essential to be cautious when using such software to avoid overwriting any existing data.

Raw Drive Data Recovery Software

When you encounter a Raw file system, don't try to format the drive before using professional data recovery software to retrieve important data. The Raw file system indicates that the drive has an unknown Windows file system, meaning it's no longer usable for storing data or accessing existing data.

Deep Data Recovery is the recommended hard drive recovery software for Raw hard drive data recovery. It can be downloaded on a PC and used to easily recover data from a raw hard drive that cannot be formatted.

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Step 1. Select file types and click "Next" to start.

Launch Deep Data Recovery on your PC. Select the file types you want to recover and click "Next" to proceed with the recovery process.

Select file types that you want to recover

Step 2. Select and scan the RAW partition

If the RAW partition has a label, you can directly select it from the drive list and click "Scan" to look for lost files. If it's lost its label, it will be recognized as "Lost Partition", so select that and click "Scan" to initiate a full scan on the RAW drive.

Step 3. Preview found data from the scan result

After completing the scan, all available files on the RAW hard drive will be displayed, allowing you to view and select the files you want to recover. You can sort the scanned data by file format or search directly in the search box to quickly find specific files.

recover all found data from RAW partition

Step 4. Recover data from RAW partition

To recover data from a RAW drive, select all files and click "Recover" to retrieve all data. Then, choose another internal or external hard drive to save the recovered data and click "OK" to initiate the RAW drive recovery process.

Raw Drive Data Recovery Services

You can use our manual data recovery services to fix your RAW drive and recover lost data efficiently.

Consult with Qiling data recovery experts for one-on-one manual recovery service, which includes the following services after a FREE diagnosis:

Repair damaged RAW drive without formatting<
Recover data from RAW drive, including BitLocker encrypted drives
To recover a RAW partition, start by stopping any write operations on the drive. If the drive is connected to a computer, safely eject it.

How to Fix the RAW Hard Drive That Cannot Be Formatted

Repairing a Raw hard drive involves converting it to a recognized file system such as NTFS or FAT32. If Windows Explorer or Disk Management can't complete the format, you can try using the Diskpart command line to format the Raw hard drive.

Fix 1. Convert Raw to NTFS/FAT32 using Diskpart

Step 1. Click on Start and then type cmd and hit Enter.

Step 2. Right-click on cmd and then click on Run As Administrator.

Step 3. Type Diskpart and then hit Enter.

Step 4. Type convert X: /fs:ntfs and hit Enter.

Note that X should be the drive letter of your RAW disk storage device, and you can replace ntfs with other desired file systems such as exfat, fat32, etc.

Fix 2. Format Raw to NTFS/FAT32 using a free partition manager

The command line method used to format a RAW drive to a usable file system may be too sophisticated for average users with limited technical background. As an alternative, Qiling Partition Master, a free partition manager software, can be used to simplify the process.

A software can be used to recover a RAW hard drive by taking advantage of its "Format" feature and "Partition Recovery" feature, which can deal with a RAW hard drive that cannot be fixed by regular disk formatting methods. The software can even handle cases where the Diskpart command prompt is not helpful.

Option 1. Format the RAW drive

The RAW drive currently has a drive letter assigned to it, and you want to apply changes to it.

Step 1. Launch Qiling Partition Master.

Right-To format a RAW partition, external hard drive, USB, or SD card, click on it and select the "Format" option.

Step 2. Format RAW Partition and reset the file system.

Assign a new partition label, set the file system to NTFS, FAT32, EXT2, EXT3, EXT4 or exFAT, and cluster size to the selected partition, then click "Proceed".

Step 3. To start formatting your RAW partition/USB/SD/external hard drive, click "OK" in the Warning window.

Option 2. Recover RAW hard drive

To resolve the issue of a Raw drive losing its drive letter, you can try the following steps:

Qiling Partition Master can help solve the issue of a Raw hard drive partition not displaying a drive letter by performing a partition recovery from start to finish without formatting it. After scanning, you can select the Raw drive partition to recover, and it will be restored to a functional drive with its original drive letter and file system intact.

Guide: how to perform partition recovery

Conclusion

If the three attempts to fix a raw drive still fail, it's likely due to severe hard drive damage. The last resort would be a low-level format, which would completely erase all data on the drive and make it unrecoverable, so data recovery should be attempted before formatting.

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Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure