How to Fix RAW Flash Drive using CMD

RAW Flash Drive Needs to Be Formatted

You may find your flash drive suddenly becomes RAW, saying “You need to format the disk before using it”, don’t format it right now unless you know there is no important data in it. The “RAW” drive means it does not have a recognized file system and is not accessible. So you cannot access this disk and data on it. Why does this happen?

Usually, this may be the result of a missing or corrupted file system. Also, you may get RAW drive due to abrupt eject, sudden power failure or shutdown, bad sectors, virus attack, etc. Fortunately, there are 2 effective methods to help you resolve it completely.

How to Fix RAW Flash Drive using CMD

CMD is a common method for computer users to repair disk problems, for example, with RAW file systems. One of commands, CHKDSK is the recommended method to fix RAW flash drive using CMD. If it not working, you only format RAW drive to NTFS or FAT32.

Way 1: Fix RAW Flash Drive using CHKDSK

Step 1. Press Win + R to open the Run window. Then, type cmd and click OK to access the command prompt with administrator priority.

Step 2. Type chkdsk D: /f /r or chkdsk D: /f /r /x and press Enter.

You may be able to access your flash drive and data in it. But this method is not 100% successful, you may receive error message like “The type of the file system is RAW. CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives.”, which results into data loss.

Way 2: Repair RAW USB Flash Drive using DiskPart

Here you will use the format command in the DiskPart utility, which if you execute it, will delete all the data on the flash drive. It means you will lose all of your data if you don’t get your data off the flash drive first.

To fix RAW USB flash drive without losing data, you need to get a professional Windows data recovery software - MyRecover for help. With its two advanced scanning methods, you can easily find out and recover all the data on the RAW flash drive. And you can also enjoy the following advantages:

• Has a high success rate and fast recovery speed.
• Recover Word documents, Excel files, PPT, pictures, videos, compressed files, etc and more than 200+ file types. 
• Keep the original name, format, quality, and path of recovered files.
• Filter specific files on the disk and recover them immediately during the scanning process. You don’t need to wait for the scanning result.
• Apply to Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, etc and Windows Server. So you can use it to recover deleted files in Windows 11, or in other data loss scenarios.

To get started, download Windows data recovery software- MyRecover and install it on your Windows PC. Meanwhile, connect the USB flash drive in RAW format as well.

Part 1: Recover Data from RAW Flash Drive

Step 1. Launch Windows data recovery software- MyRecover. Hover the mouse over the RAW flash drive saved deleted files before, and click Scan.

Step 2. The software will run two advanced scanning methods - Quick Scan & Deep Scan automatically and find out all the data on the RAW flash drive. Once any of files are found, it will display in the following window. You can then preview or select them to recover immediately.

To recover specific files, you could directly type its file name in the Search for files or folders box. Or use the Filter feature. You need to select file type (eg: Word documents), date modified or size.

• Type: It will contain all the file types in the local drive, such as, images, videos, documents, mails, webpage, compressed files, etc.
• Data Modified: It supports today, yesterday, last 7 days, last 30 days, and custom.
• Size: It allows you to filter file size from less than 128KB to 128KB ~1MB to 1MB ~ 512MB and above, or custom.

Step 3. After the scanning process is complete, select all the data on the selected drive and click Recover XX files.

Notes:

• MyRecover will display the number of files to be recovered and their entire size. You can free recover files up to 500MB. To recover unlimited files, please upgrade MyRecover.
• Select a new location to store files on the flash drive that needs to be formatted. Retrieving files to original location may overwrite the space of deleted data, resulting in data recovery failure.
• You still can use it to recover deleted files from Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, etc.

Part 2: Format RAW to NTFS or FAT32 with DiskPart

Step 1. Press Win + R and type diskpart in the Run window. Then, click OK to open it.

Step 2. Enter the following commands and press Enter after each line.

• list disk
• select X (X is the disk number of the RAW drive.)
• clean (The clean command will delete all the data on the RAW drive.)
• create partition primary
• format fs=ntfs quick (or format fs=fat32 quick)
• exit

Note: If your RAW disk is write-protected, you could add the “attributes disk clear readonly” command to remove it before using the “clean” command.

How to Prevent RAW Flash Drive and Data Loss

If your flash drive becomes RAW, you won’t be able to access the data loss on it, and may even lose them. To prevent this, you need to take some precautions. Here are some useful suggestions you can follow:

• Don’t often use the same flash drive on multiple systems. Because different systems has different compatible file systems.
• Take out flash drive using the Safely remove hardware and eject media option.
• Run antivirus software regularly to prevent virus or malware attack.
• Use a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply).
• Always purchase high-quality flash drives from well-known manufacturer. The low quality flash drive is likely to be damaged or corrupted.
• Backup flash drive or files on it automatically with free backup software like AOMEI Backupper Standard. It gives you a chance to recover files from flash drive, even if they are deleted forever.

FAQs

✍ How to fix RAW drive to NTFS using CMD?

You can try format fs=ntfs command in DiskPart utility. To access it, type cmd in the search box and select Run administrator. Then, type diskpart in the command prompt window.

✍ Can you convert RAW to NTFS without losing data?

The format method will delete all the data on a RAW drive. But you can choose to recover data from RAW drive with reliable data recovery software like MyRecover. It has two advanced scanning methods and high success recovery rate & fast speed.

✍ How do I fix a RAW drive without formatting?

You can fix a RAW drive without formatting and there are many ways to make it, such as update or reinstall drivers, chkdsk, assign a new drive letter, etc. But which method do you need to use? You need to figure out the reason first.

Concluding Words

How to fix RAW flash drive using CMD? You can choose to use CHKDSK or Format command, depending on whether there is important data. If you have to format RAW flash drive, please get data off it with a reliable data recovery software like MyRecover.

You are a lucky guy if you already fix this RAW flash drive. To prevent this error from happening again or data loss, it’s suggested to develop a good usage habit, such as use the Safely remove hardware and eject media option, backup files to an external hard drive automatically, etc.