What Is A Raw Partition In Windows?


Raw partitions can help create space to store files, such as images or music.  If you check its status in Disk Management, the file system of this drive is displayed as RAW, unallocated, or uninitialized. Raw partition is a drive without an associated filesystem. You can format it to use with the NTFS, FAT32, or exFAT file systems on Windows devices

A raw partition is a drive without an associated filesystem. The RAW partition reports an error message when you try to open it.

Is It Possible To Recover Data From The RAW Partition?

If you have accidentally removed data from a RAW drive, the only way to recover it is by using data recovery software. You can use professional tools like Stellar Phoenix Windows Data Recovery or Remo Recover that quickly scan and restore lost files from all types of storage media, including hard disks, solid-state drives (SSDs), USB flash drives, memory cards, and more.

If the RAW drive contains necessary files for you and you can retrieve these files with the help of partition recovery software. When files are recovered successfully, you can format the RAW partition to get it repaired.

How to Use the Stellar Data Recovery Software for Windows to Recover Lost Data?

Stellar Phoenix, Windows Data Recovery tool, is a comprehensive data recovery software that can recover lost, formatted, deleted, and inaccessible files from storage media like hard disks (HDD), solid-state drives (SSDs), Raw partition, USB flash drives.

  • Download Stellar Data Recovery and install it on your Windows PC, then launch this application.
  • Choose the “Partition Recovery” option and “Select” the type of data you want to recover and click “Next.”
  • Now, choose a path where you have to save the recovered data and click “Scan.”
  • In this step, Stellar Data Recovery will scan your RAW partition for lost files; then, it displays all recoverable files in “Data View.”
  • Select the file/folder that you want to restore and click on “Recover.”
  • Check the destination path on your PC to save the recovered files
  • Click “OK.”

After successfully retrieving lost data, format the RAW partition using the Disk Management tool in Windows OS. Then you can use this space for storing new information or other critical system resources like Superfetch memory management features and OneDrive storage space.

Why Do You Need to Convert RAW To NTFS?

In some cases, you may need to convert a RAW file system into NTFS if the device formatted with this type of partitioning cannot be mounted or recognized by Windows OS.

If your computer does not recognize a hard disk drive because it is formatted as RAW and fails to detect any new storage devices connected via USB ports, follow these steps to recover data from the RAW hard disk drive.

Formatting a RAW drive or partition into the NTFS file system will delete all the data stored in it, including your documents and media files. Always back up important files before formatting a RAW to NTFS if you want to retrieve them later on with the help of the Stellar Data Recovery software tool.

How To Convert A Raw Partition Into NTFS?

The built-in Disk Management utility in Windows OS can be used for converting the file systems of your drives/partitions. Follow these instructions:

  • Type “disk management” at the Start menu and hit “Enter” to open the Disk Management tool.
  • In this step, right-click on a RAW drive and select “Convert to NTFS” from the drop-down menu list.
  • Now choose “Apply” at the bottom of both windows that appear on your screen after converting RAW to NTFS.
  • Click “OK.”

Always back up important files before formatting a RAW partition to NTFS or any other type of file system because this process will delete all the data stored in it, including your documents and media files.

How Do I Fix A Raw External Hard Drive Without Formatting Using CMD? Step-By-Step

A raw file system is a primary computer storage media partition that does not include additional data structures like master boot record (MBR) or GUID Partition Table (GPT) used by most operating systems to identify partitions.

If you need to fix a raw external hard drive without formatting using CMD, follow these instructions:

  • Open CMD and run as an Administrator
  • Type “diskpart” at the CMD input box and hit enter
  • Enter “list disk” next, then check whether the disk number of your RAW drive is listed here.
  • If not, type “select disk” and then press enter to select the correct complex drive number from a list.
  • Now type “list partition” following and hit enter again to see all partitions on that particular storage device you want to format into NTFS.
  • Enter “select partition” and enter the number of the raw drive partition next.
  • Type “active” at this point to set that selected RAW file system into active mode, then type “format fs=ntfs quick” and hit Enter again.
  • Close DiskPart utility by typing “exit” at the CMD input box.

To make this process complete, restart your computer and check if you can access that RAW drive now or not.

Conclusion

We can say that the Stellar Data Recovery tool is a comprehensive data recovery software and provides various features like disk/partition imaging and cloning for preventing accidental file loss. You can use this application to recover lost or deleted files from RAW partitions of your internal storage devices on Windows PC. To convert the file system to an unmounted partition, you can use the built-in Disk Management utility in Windows OS.

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