Here a reliable RAW to NTFS converter & format tool to fix RAW external hard drive, SD card, USB flash drive, pen drive etc is available for free download. Try it to format or convert RAW drive to NTFS in simple steps without losing data.

1. How To Convert Raw To Ntfs In Windows 7

'Hey, guys. Do you know how to change a RAW external hard drive into NTFS? My Seagate external hard drive is showing as RAW on my PC and I have some very useful documents saved on the drive. The computer keeps asking me to format the drive. I don't want to.

So I'm wondering to know can anyone of you tell me how to recover data from the RAW external hard drive and convert RAW to NTFS?'

Causes of RAW external hard drive

Before finding solutions to resolve the external hard drive RAW issue, it's important to know the causes that make the device inaccessible, even requiring you to format it.

And also, knowing the causes will be very helpful for us to prevent the external hard drive from becoming RAW. Here is a list of reasons that may cause your device RAW:

• File system corrupted or damaged.
• File system is not supported by the current OS.
• Access to the external hard drive denied.
• Improper operations on external hard drive.
• Virus attack.

So how to fix this issue, converting your RAW external hard drive back to NTFS without losing data? Find the answers below.

Part 1. Recover data from the RAW external hard drive (3 steps)

To avoid unnecessary data loss, you should recover data from the RAW external hard drive first. To do so, you'll need professional data recovery software which supports raw recovery for help.

EaseUS hard drive data recovery software - Data Recovery Wizard can help you fully restore data from a RAW device. Computer hard drive, external hard drive, USB or other storage devices are all supported.

Download this software and follow the 3 steps below to retrieve your external hard drive data:

Activation is required for unlimited file recovery. If your data saved on the device is less than 2GB, EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard Free Edition is available to help.

Step 1. Locate the RAW hard drive

• Download and install EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on your Windows PC or laptop.
• Launch the software. Make sure that Windows has detected your RAW hard drive and correctly listed the drive letter on the disk map.
• Left-click on the RAW drive and then click the 'Scan' button.

Step 2. Scan the data on the RAW hard drive

At this stage, the software would work very hard to search all data through the entire drive, and timely display the data as the scanning task goes on.

Tip: users are allowed to pause the scan process for an instant recovery as soon as the target files show up, but it's better to stay and wait for a complete scan till the end.

Step 3. Check files under the 'Extra Files' result

• Besides the general scan results of all lost data on the selected drive, the 'Extra Files' is specially designed for RAW hard drive/USB flash drive/micro SD card data recovery, under which you're likely to recover what you want with a high success rate.
• Of course, check all the scan results if necessary. Choose the target files and click the 'Recover'button. You should save the items to a new location.

If you don't want to format the drive, you can follow Part 2 to convert and change the RAW external hard drive to NTFS.

Part 2. Convert RAW external hard drive to NTFS without formatting

Notice that formatting a RAW device is one of the most direct ways to convert RAW to NTFS. Another way to execute the operation is to use CMD command.

Notice that to do so, you'll need to delete the partition on the RAW external hard drive first and then create a new partition, making the device usable again.

This method can also be used to convert RAW to NTFS, RAW to FAT32 without formatting any disk or drives:

• Step 1: Type cmd in the search box and right-click on Command Prompt, select 'Run as Administrator'.
• Step 2: Type diskpart and press 'Enter'.
• Step 3: Type list disk to list all the available drives and press 'Enter'.
• Type select disk * ( replace * with the drive letter of the RAW device) and press Enter.
• Step 4: Type clean to clear the selected externa hard drive and press 'Enter'.
• Step 5: Type create partition primary and hit 'Enter'.
• Step 6: Type format fs=ntfs (or format fs=FAT32) and hit Enter.
• This will set the new external hard drive partition back with a new supported file system, making the device accessible again.
• Step 7: Type assign letter=* (replace * with a new drive letter) to assign a drive letter to the drive and press 'Enter'.
• After this, exit DiskPart.

Now your RAW external hard drive will be available for you to save data again.

Part 3. Tips to prevent storage device from becoming RAW

How do you prevent your storage media devices from becoming RAW? Here are some tips to help protect your devices from a RAW error:

How To Convert Raw To Ntfs In Windows 7

1. 1. Use storage devices properly: plug and unplug the device from PC with the right operation steps.
2. 2. Use anti-virus software to scan and clean up the virus on storage devices and PC frequently.
3. 3. Use CMD or partition manager tool to repair file system error on the device.
4. 4. Backup important data regularly.