HDD partition turned RAW!!!

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  1. Posts : 26
    win 7
       #1

    HDD partition turned RAW!!!


    Hi everyone,

    I have one internal HDD with five partitions that I am using it as external HDD using SATA to USB casing. It is from my previous laptop which is dead long ago. Till now the HDD was working fine but last night 2 of the partitions turned RAW. Its asking me to format the partitions but I don't want to because I have some important files in those partitions. I am using win 7 x64. I tried connecting this HDD to another computer with win 7 but same problem persists. Till now I have not tried any software to recover it coz they may damage them further. Below is the screenshot from disk management.

    HDD partition turned RAW!!!-capture.jpg

    In the above screenshot, drive G: and J: are inaccessible now. Is there any chance to restore the partitions or atleast recover the files with original folder structure?
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #2

    Try running the Partition Recovery Wizard in MiniTools Partition Wizard Home Edition Best Free Partition Manager Freeware and free partition magic for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista and Windows XP 32 bit & 64 bit. MiniTool Free Partition Manager Software Home Edition.

    It should be able to rewrite the missing partition info into the first sector and recover the partition.

    Help here: Proceed to the topic Recovery with Partition Wizard: SanDisk Cruzer Blade 16GB in Recover a flash drive turned RAW – Partition Wizard and TestDisk. (In your case it will be the external HDD)
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 26
    win 7
    Thread Starter
       #3

    jumanji said:
    Try running the Partition Recovery Wizard in MiniTools Partition Wizard Home Edition Best Free Partition Manager Freeware and free partition magic for Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista and Windows XP 32 bit & 64 bit. MiniTool Free Partition Manager Software Home Edition.

    It should be able to rewrite the missing partition info into the first sector and recover the partition.

    Help here: Proceed to the topic Recovery with Partition Wizard: SanDisk Cruzer Blade 16GB in Recover a flash drive turned RAW – Partition Wizard and TestDisk. (In your case it will be the external HDD)
    Thanks for replying

    In minitools partition wizard, it didn't detect any problem. It is showing that all the partitions are fine. And the good thing is that I can see all the files in that two partitions and now I am sure that the files are fine and recoverable.

    HDD partition turned RAW!!!-capture1.jpg

    But still in windows disk management, it is showing filesystem as RAW. I ran "partition recovery wizard" in minitools PW but as it is not detecting any error, there is nothing to "apply. What should I do now?

    And one more thing, a wierd thing is happening with minitools PW. If I try to do surface test on any partition(even good partitions), as soon as I press the "start now" button, the software crashes without any warning or error.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #4

    Partition Wizard still sees it as NTFS... all looks fine. Doubleclik the partition G and J in partition wizard. Does it show the files?

    G: 25GB free. Is that correct?
    J: 0Bytes free. Is that correct?

    I think the partition's $MFT and/or NTFS boot sector is corrupt. It's not the partition table itself that is corrupt!! Rebuilding the MBR doesn't fix this.

    Try in Elevated Command Prompt :
    Code:
    chkdsk/f  G:
    chkdsk/f  J:
    There were problems on disk? If so, fixed? Run it again to prove. Why is G disk marked ACTIVE?
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 26
    win 7
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Kaktussoft said:
    Partition Wizard still sees it as NTFS... all looks fine. Doubleclik the partition G and J in partition wizard. Does it show the files?

    G: 25GB free. Is that correct?
    J: 0Bytes free. Is that correct?

    I think the partition's $MFT and/or NTFS boot sector is corrupt. It's not the partition table itself that is corrupt!! Rebuilding the MBR doesn't fix this.

    Try in Elevated Command Prompt :
    Code:
    chkdsk/f  G:
    chkdsk/f  J:
    There were problems on disk? If so, fixed? Run it again to prove. Why is G disk marked ACTIVE?
    Yes, I can see all my files with correct folder structure.

    G: 25GB free. Correct
    J: 0bytes free. Incorrect. Atleast 30GB was free.

    I am performing chkdsk on g: and I am getting errors like "File record segment 45198 is unreadable." Its been half an hour and only two percent is completed.

    As I already told this HDD is from my old laptop and g: was the partition in which os was installed. I didn't formatted it till now so maybe this is the reason for being marked "Active".
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #6

    So G has severe errors. J as well I assume (you test that later).

    G: Most likely NTFS boot sector is correct. I think $MFT is corrupt... turns disk to RAW.
    J: free space is listed wrong. NTFS boot sector is corrupt(?)... turns disk to RAW.

    H, I, K are still healthy. Backup H, I and K asap!!!
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #7

    Watch chkdsk output for lines like:
    Code:
    Usn Journal verification completed.
    Correcting errors in the Master File Table (MFT) mirror.
    Correcting errors in the master file table's (MFT) BITMAP attribute.
    Correcting errors in the Volume Bitmap.
    Windows has made corrections to the file system.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 26
    win 7
    Thread Starter
       #8

    So should I wait for chkdsk to complete before taking backup?

    I can still see the files in both partitions through minitools partition wizard, can't I backup those files somehow?

    I am using a cheap nonbranded HDD casing, is this casing responsible for these problems?
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #9

    Dreck said:
    So should I wait for chkdsk to complete before taking backup?

    I can still see the files in both partitions through minitools partition wizard, can't I backup those files somehow?

    I am using a cheap nonbranded HDD casing, is this casing responsible for these problems?
    chkdsk/f I: takes hours as well?

    cheap casing... should be fine I think.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 10,796
    Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bits 7601 Multiprocessor Free Service Pack 1
       #10

    Dreck said:
    So should I wait for chkdsk to complete before taking backup?

    I can still see the files in both partitions through minitools partition wizard, can't I backup those files somehow?

    I am using a cheap nonbranded HDD casing, is this casing responsible for these problems?
    disk2 has about 300GB in use. I advise you to backup H,I,K by backup software.
    Afterwards try to backup G. Try to backup J.

    Maybe better to clone G and J sector-by-sector and ignore read errors(?)
    For the time being try to remove the "RAW" disk and make it NTFS.
      My Computer


 
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