How to Convert RAW to NTFS Without Losing Data [2024 Solutions]

What does "RAW file system" mean?

When an (external) hard drive, USB flash drive, or partition turns RAW, it indicates one of these three possibilities:

• Your computer's operating system doesn't recognize the file system on the disk.
• There is no file system on the disk.
• The file system on your hard drive or partition is corrupted.

Windows supports the FAT, NTFS, exFAT, Live File System, and ReFS file systems. If you connect an external hard drive formatted with the APFS file system to your Windows computer, the computer will display the drive as RAW.

"Notification of Hard Disk/Partition Turning into RAW"

You can check the file system through Properties or Disk Management, but you may not know that your external hard drive or USB flash drive has turned into RAW format until you see one of the following messages on your computer:

"You need to format the disk in drive X: before you can use it."

"Disk X is not formatted. Do you want to format it?"

"Error accessing Drive X: Disk not formatted."

"The file system type is RAW. CHKDSK cannot be used on a RAW drive."

Why do you need to convert RAW to NTFS?

When your hard drive or partition becomes RAW, you can no longer access the files on it. Also, you cannot use the RAW hard drive for data storage until you format it to NTFS. But the question is, how to fix the RAW disk and convert it to NTFS without losing data?

As you might already know, converting a drive deletes all the files stored on it. And since your RAW drive is not accessible, you can't even open its folders to copy the files. This almost leaves you with no way to back up your data.

Fortunately, there is hope. There is a way to back up files from an inaccessible RAW drive before formatting the RAW drive.

How to convert RAW to NTFS without losing data

In simple words, you can convert RAW to NTFS without losing data by performing RAW file recovery first and then formatting the RAW drive to NTFS.

1. Recover Data from RAW Hard Drive/Partition

You can use tools like the Data Recovery Wizard to recover files from RAW drives. The utility fully supports RAW file recovery from local disks, external hard drives, disk partitions, USB flash drives, and even SD cards.

This tool works on Windows 10/8/7/Vista operating systems.

Video Tutorial: Convert RAW to NTFS

Perform RAW disk/partition recovery:

Step 1. Select and scan the RAW partition

If the RAW partition has a partition label, you can directly select it from the drive list and then click "Scan" to retrieve lost files. If the RAW partition loses its label, it will be recognized as "Lost Partition". Just select "Lost Partition" and click "Scan" to perform a full scan of the RAW drive.

Step 2: Preview the data found in the scan result

After the scan, all recoverable files from the RAW hard drive will be displayed. Check the files and locate the ones you need to recover. You can sort the scanning results by file type, or simply search for your files in the "Search File or Folder" box.

Step 3: Recover Data from RAW Partition

Select all the files and click on “Recover” to retrieve all the data. Select another internal or external hard drive to save the recovered data and click on “OK” to start RAW drive recovery.

Apart from RAW file recovery, the tool helps retrieve data in almost all data loss scenarios, including virus attack, recover files after formatting, lost partition, and more. For complex RAW data recovery, you can also make use of our manual data recovery service.

Tool RAW Recovery Service

Click here to contact our experts for a free assessment

Get one-on-one consultation with Tool Data Recovery experts for manual RAW recovery services. After a free diagnosis, we offer the following:

• Repair corrupted RAW drives without formatting
• Data recovery from RAW drives, including BitLocker encrypted drives
• Recover RAW partitions, RAW USB, RAW flash drives, RAW external hard drives, and more

Now we will format the RAW drive. There are several ways to do this, choose any one of your preference.

# 2-1. Converting RAW to NTFS by Formatting

Step 1: Right-click on the RAW disk/partition in This PC (Windows 10) and choose "Format".

Step 2: Choose the NTFS file system and configure other options.

Step 3: Click Start, and then click OK.

When it's done, your hard drive or partition will be usable again. You can copy the files you recovered in Step 1 back to the disk if you'd like.

# 2-2. Converting RAW to NTFS via CMD

If you're more of a command-line person, you can also convert your RAW drive/partition to NTFS with a command in Command Prompt. Here's how:

Step 1: Open the Start menu, search for "Command Prompt," and run it as an administrator.

Step 2 Type convert X: /fs:ntfs (where X is the letter of your disk drive) and press Enter.

Step 3: Type the name of the partition or disk that you want to convert to NTFS, and press Enter.

Wait for the process to complete. When it's done, your RAW disk/partition should now be using the NTFS file system.

Bottom line

You should know that it's impossible to directly access a RAW formatted drive and copy files for data recovery. You need to use a data recovery program to back up your files first, and then convert the RAW drive to NTFS format using one of the methods mentioned above.

Frequently Asked Questions on Converting RAW to NTFS

If you have further questions about converting RAW to NTFS, the following Q&A might be helpful.

How to recover data from RAW external hard drive?

When the hard drive turns RAW, you cannot simply perform RAW external hard drive recovery and RAW drive repair by double-clicking on it in File Explorer, as the Windows system does not support this file system.

However, since your computer is detecting the RAW drive, there is a high possibility that you can retrieve data from it. Using tools such as tools Data Recovery Wizard, you may be able to recover all files stored on the RAW drive.

How can I convert a RAW hard drive to NTFS without losing data?

To convert RAW to NTFS without losing data, first recover your files using a data recovery tool like Data Recovery Wizard. Then, format your drive to the NTFS file system using one of the methods outlined in this guide.

How to convert RAW to NTFS?

To convert a RAW drive to NTFS, you can use CMD commands or format the drive via Disk Management/File Explorer.

Here's how to format a drive using Disk Management:

1. Open Disk Management and locate your RAW storage device (such as an SD card, hard drive, or USB flash drive). 2. Right-click on the device in the Volumes section and select Format. Choose a file system (like NTFS). 3. Click OK.

How can I repair an external hard drive without formatting it?

If you don't want to format the RAW external hard drive, you can use CMD to convert the RAW external hard drive. Here are the steps:

1. Connect the RAW external hard drive to your computer. 2. Click Start, search for "Command Prompt," right-click it, and select "Run as administrator." 3. Type "diskpart" and press Enter. 4. After each of the following commands, press Enter: `list disk`, `select disk *` (replace * with the drive letter of your RAW device), `clean`, `create partition primary`, `format fs=ntfs` (or `format fs=FAT32`), and `assign letter=*` (replace * with a new drive letter).