What Is RAW: the Comprehensive Definition and Meaning of RAW Conditions

RAW： What is a RAW drive?

A RAW disk means that the disk has no file system, and it's unformatted. Or your disk may have a file system error, which makes it undetectable by the system. In this case, your disk becomes RAW, which is actually not a kind of file system but indicates there is something wrong with your disk. This usually happens when information about the file system type in one or more system tables is inconsistent or missing.

When people speak of “raw data,” they typically mean a table where each row represents an observation and each column a variable that describes some aspect of each observation. Such data are also called cleaned data, flat data, primary data, atomic data, or unit-record data. Untouched data are sometimes also referred to as RAW.

When you try to open a non-system disk in the File Explorer, a dialog pops up telling you that the disk must be formatted before it can be used. This usually happens when there is something wrong with the disk's file system.

What does RAW drive mean?

“Format disk” will often fix a hard drive, but it will erase everything. If you don't format it, you'll see a message like “The disk in drive X: is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?” followed by “Windows is unable to read the file system on the disk. Make sure the disk is not damaged, and that all required file system drivers are loaded.”

RAW: What is the RAW file system?

There are many reasons that can lead to a hard drive or external storage device becoming RAW:

• ❌ The disk's file system is damaged or missing.
• ? The disk has not been formatted with a FAT12/FAT16/FAT32 or NTFS/NTFS5 file system.
• ? The computer fails to recognize the current file system on the storage medium.

RAW file system refers to an unformatted or unpartitioned storage system that does not have a specific file structure or organization. It is essentially a disk space without a file system, where data is stored in a binary format directly on the drive. This type of file system is often encountered when a drive is not formatted with a specific file system like FAT, NTFS, or HFS+, or when a drive becomes corrupted and loses its file system information. Working with RAW file systems can be challenging as data recovery may be required to access the files.

The RAW file system refers to a state in Windows where an external hard drive, USB flash drive, or memory card, and other storage devices have an unknown or unsupported file system.

File systems like NTFS, FAT32, and exFAT manage the storage and retrieval of data. Without a file system, you cannot access storage media like hard drives, USB flash drives, or SD cards. A hard drive with a RAW file system has no file system or an unrecognized one. We call a disk or drive with a RAW file system a RAW disk or drive.

Unlike standard file systems like NTFS and FAT, RAW is not compatible with Windows. As such, you can't view or save files on a RAW disk.

How to Convert a RAW File System to NTFS

To be able to read from and write to a RAW partition, you must first convert the RAW file system to NTFS.

1. Convert RAW to NTFS through formatting

Step 1: Open “This PC” in Windows 10, right-click the RAW drive or partition that needs formatting, and select “Format”.

Step 2: Choose the NTFS file system and set the other options as you wish.

Step 3: Choose Start, and then click OK.

Once the process is complete, your hard drive or partition should be usable. You can copy back any files you recovered earlier to the drive, as needed.

2. Convert RAW to NTFS using CMD

To convert a RAW hard drive/partition to NTFS, if you prefer using commands, you can use the Command Prompt. The steps are as below:

Step 1: Locate the "Command Prompt" in the Start menu, and then choose to "Run as Administrator."

Step 2. Type convert X: (where X is the drive letter) and press Enter, then type /fs:ntfs and press Enter again.

Step 3: Type a name for the disk or partition, then press Enter to format it as NTFS.

Wait for the process to finish. When it's done, your RAW disk or partition should be formatted with the NTFS file system.

How to Recover Data from RAW Drive

By formatting, you can assign a new file system to the disk, making it usable again. However, since it's designed to delete all existing files on the hard drive, you should perform RAW data recovery before fixing it if you don't want to lose everything. So, to fix an external storage device with file system issues, all you need to do is:

Recover Data from RAW Drive Format the Disk

1. Restore Windows files

You can use 100% secure Data Recovery Wizard tool to recover files before or after formatting to avoid data loss.

With tools Data Recovery Wizard, one of the best data recovery software for Windows, you can quickly and safely recover RAW hard drive. Then, you can format the RAW external hard drive to NTFS with peace of mind without worrying about data loss.

2. Recover Files on Mac

If you are a Mac user, don't worry. tools Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is the best Mac data recovery software as it supports a wide range of file systems and multiple scan modes. It allows you to recover trash on Mac as well as retrieve data from hard drive, external drive, and memory card.

If the above methods help you recover lost data from RAW drive, share it on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more!

RAW: What Is RAW in Photography?

Aside from referring to the disk file system, RAW also represents a file format in photography. You might have seen photography websites recommend shooting in “RAW.” So what exactly is a RAW file, and how does it differ from other image formats?

What is a RAW file? A RAW file is an unprocessed, raw digital image format that captures data directly from a camera's sensor without any in-camera processing or compression. This format preserves the most detailed and rich image information, including color depth, exposure, white balance, and more, providing significant flexibility for post-processing. When shooting in RAW, the camera doesn't apply the usual JPEG treatments such as color correction, sharpening, or compression. As a result, RAW files are typically larger than JPEGs and require specialized image editing software (like Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, or software provided by the camera manufacturer) to decode and edit them. During post-processing, photographers can adjust parameters like white balance, exposure, contrast, saturation, shadows, highlights, and more without worrying about quality loss since the RAW file retains the original data. This makes the RAW format the preferred choice for professional photographers and advanced enthusiasts who seek maximum control over image quality and creative editing.

A RAW file is a digital image file saved on a camera or smartphone memory card. It's typically uncompressed and minimally processed. Each camera manufacturer has its own proprietary RAW format; for example, Canon's RAW files have the extension .CR2 or .CR3, while Nikon's RAW files use the .NEF extension.

A RAW file contains the unprocessed data from your camera's sensor, and it's lossless. RAW files are often referred to as digital negatives, and can be thought of as the uncooked “ingredients” of your photo that need further refinement to reach their full potential. It should come as no surprise that, in order to preserve all this detail, RAW files are significantly larger than JPEGs.

RAW vs. JPEG

Conclusions

This article introduces RAW file systems and RAW disks. If you encounter RAW drive issues, you can refer to the methods mentioned in the text to convert the file system. Additionally, we discuss the RAW file format and the differences between RAW and JPEG. If you want to recover or repair damaged RAW files from a digital camera, a RAW recovery tool is an excellent choice. It is a professional and user-friendly software for RAW file recovery.