RAW USB Recovery | How to Recover Data from RAW USB Drive

My USB has turned into RAW format, what should I do!

"I have a USB flash drive that contains some data. When I insert it into the computer, it prompts me to format the drive, and the USB shows as RAW format. There are some important files on the device that need to be recovered. Does anyone know how to recover files from RAW USB?"

A RAW USB drive is a common issue that frustrates many users. When a USB turns RAW, it means the data on the device becomes inaccessible. You won't be able to access or open files on the device, such as documents, photos, emails, and more. Hence, to fix the RAW USB, you need to first perform RAW USB recovery, then fix the RAW formatted USB drive. But before we show you how, you might want to learn more about RAW USB drives in detail.

Common Reasons Why a USB Drive Becomes RAW Format

Usually, your USB drive wouldn't turn RAW without any reason. You can figure out the cause, some common reasons include:

• You are denied access to the USB device.
• Your USB is unformatted, or formatted incorrectly.
• The current file system of your USB is not recognized by your computer's operating system.
• Your USB drive might be infected with a virus.

1. "USB设备无法识别"：当你将USB驱动器插入电脑时，系统可能无法识别它，显示为“未知设备”或“未格式化”。 2. "RAW文件系统错误"：在尝试访问USB驱动器时，可能会收到错误消息，提示文件系统为RAW，这意味着它不再被识别为FAT32、NTFS或其他可读文件系统。 3. "驱动器需要格式化"：当你试图打开USB驱动器时，Windows可能会弹出一个对话框，询问你是否想要格式化驱动器。这通常意味着驱动器的文件系统已损坏或丢失。 4. 数据丢失：你可能注意到USB驱动器上的所有文件和文件夹突然消失，这可能是由于RAW状态导致的。 5. 无法读取或写入数据：如果你无法保存新文件到USB驱动器，或者不能打开已存在的文件，这也可能是RAW问题的迹象。 6. 系统性能下降：如果USB驱动器变为RAW，可能会导致计算机运行缓慢，因为系统需要更多资源来处理不兼容的文件系统。 7. 异常关闭或断电：如果你的电脑在USB驱动器正在使用时意外关机或断电，可能会导致文件系统损坏，从而使其变为RAW。 遇到以上任何一种情况，都应尽快备份重要数据，并考虑使用专业的数据恢复工具或向专业人士求助，以避免进一步的数据损失。

When your USB flash drive turns RAW, the system doesn't necessarily show it as RAW USB. Instead, you'll encounter various notifications. When you run into one of the following situations or error messages while using the USB drive and check its properties, it will display the file system as RAW.

• Invalid media type reading drive. Abort? Retry? Fail? • File system shows as “RAW” • Windows may display “Drive not formatted. Do you want to format it now?” • Filename contains unusual characters • “Sector not found” messages

When using certain USB drives, like an external hard drive, USB storage card, USB Smart Media, or other storage media, you might encounter these annoying messages. Fortunately, there are ways to fix a RAW USB drive without losing your data. By recovering your precious files from the RAW USB and then fixing the RAW format, you can get your USB drive functioning again without losing any data.

3-Step USB RAW Recovery Solution

Before you fix the RAW formatted USB device, you need to perform RAW USB drive recovery first to ensure the safety of your data. The professional Data Recovery Wizard tool fully supports RAW USB recovery. With it, you can easily recover all files from an inaccessible USB drive. You can preview the software here:

• Supports original data recovery, deleted file recovery, [formatted file recovery](/resource/format-file-recovery.htm), emptied Recycle Bin data recovery, lost partition recovery, virus attack recovery and other complex data loss scenarios • Recovers files from USB flash drives, SD cards, memory cards, external hard drives, digital cameras, music players, computers, and other devices • Recovers almost all file types

Video Tutorial: Recover Files from RAW USB

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Guide: How to Recover Files from a RAW Flash Drive

Step 1: Select the USB drive to scan

Run the tool Data Recovery Wizard, select the USB drive where you lost important files, and click “Scan” to start.

Step 2: Preview and select USB drive data to recover

After the scan is complete, you can use the “Filter” feature and the “Search” option to quickly locate specific types of files.

Step 3: Recover Files from the Flash Drive

Once the scan is complete and the lost USB drive files are found, click on “Recover” to restore them. You should save the recovered files to a secure location on your computer and not back to the USB drive.

When your USB drive turns RAW, you cannot format it directly as prompted by the computer, because doing so will delete all existing files on the RAW USB drive and you might lose the chance to recover files from the RAW USB drive. You should recover files from the RAW USB drive first, and then fix the problematic storage device. Since you can't recover files from a RAW USB drive yourself, you need help from a third-party tool.

RAW USB Data Recovery Services

As one of the recommended best data recovery software for Windows, Data Recovery Wizard is among the top RAW USB drive recovery tools that offer unparalleled manual recovery services.

RAW Recovery Services Tool

Contact our experts for a free evaluation.

Consult with our Data Recovery Specialists for personalized manual RAW recovery services. After a free diagnosis, we offer the following:

• Repair damaged RAW drives without formatting
• Data recovery from RAW drives, including those encrypted with BitLocker
• Restore RAW partitions, RAW USB, RAW flash drives, RAW external hard disks, and more

[[2]] 3 Ways to Repair a RAW USB Drive

As you may know, the most effective way to fix a RAW formatted USB is to format it. However, formatting the device should be your last resort since it will delete all existing data on the USB drive.

Method 1: Repair the RAW USB Drive by Checking the Device

There's a built-in Windows tool that can check your drives for file system errors and fix them automatically.

Step 1: Connect the USB drive to your computer.

Step 2. Open File Explorer in Windows 10. Right-click your USB drive under Devices and Drives, and select Properties.

Step 3: Click the "Tools" tab, and then click "Check."

Step 4: In the Error Checking window, select the option to “Scan and repair drive,” and wait for the process to complete.

Method 2: Fix RAW USB Drive Using CMD

You may have heard that the chkdsk command can't be used on RAW drives, but that's not true. As long as your USB drive still shows up with a drive letter assignment, you can use the command to check and repair the storage device.

Step 1: Connect the USB device to your computer.

Step 2. Click the "Search" icon on the taskbar, type in cmd, and then right-click "Command Prompt." Select "Run as administrator."

Step 3. Type in chkdsk /f G: (replace G with the letter of your RAW drive), and press Enter to fix your RAW USB.

After the process completes, open Disk Management and check if your hard drive has been fixed. If the CHKDSK is not working, consider formatting your USB. Fortunately, since you have already recovered files from USB, you can format USB without worries.

Method 3: Repair RAW USB Drive by Formatting

Step 1: Connect your RAW formatted USB/SD card/flashing drive to the computer.

< strong > Step 2. < /strong> Right-click on the RAW USB drive, SD card, or other RAW device in This PC/My Computer and select Format.

Step 3: Reset the file system, give your USB drive a name, and click “OK” to convert RAW USB drive to NTFS or FAT32. Then you can use it again.

There are multiple ways to format a USB drive. Aside from the built-in feature of Windows, you can also use a professional USB formatting tool to format RAW USB. After formatting, you can move your files back to the USB drive if needed.

Conclusions

Normally, fixing a RAW USB flash drive is easy. However, to ensure the safety of your data, you might need a third-party data recovery tool like Data Recovery Wizard. It can successfully perform RAW USB recovery and also helps in other data recovery situations. Feel free to use this tool to resolve your RAW issue.