4TB HDD suddenly RAW

@jumanji,
I've seen you help on a post much like this...
4TB Seagate drive in enclosure suddenly became RAW - Windows 7 Help Forums
My situation is slightly different as I'm not using an external drive, though it used to be. Meaning I don't use any external adapters, I took this drive out of the case and it is installed directly in my computer.

I was wondering if
1. There is a way to recover all this data (Without another drive of this size)
2. If the data in Lost+Found folder on the first partition can be recovered?
and 3. would it be smart to do two 2TB partitions after I get everything recovered?

Thanks in advance

Yes, that referred thread has nothing to do with the problem you are facing.

You said that you took out the 4TB drive from inside an enclosure and started using it as an internal drive.

a) What was the reason for taking it out from the casing?

b) As an internal drive did you initialise and format it as a GPT drive?

c) Post a screenshot of how your drive looks like in Partition Wizard - the very first screen when you launch the application

d) Why didn't you open the Lost+Found folder and examine what files are inside it?

Our first attempt is always to recover the files and then only consider restoring the drive - which may or may not be possible. During this process we may also bungle and lose everything. . There is no two way about it. So to start with you must have another external drive ready to copy the files.

jumanji said:

Yes, that referred thread has nothing to do with the problem you are facing.

You said that you took out the 4TB drive from inside an enclosure and started using it as an internal drive.

a) What was the reason for taking it out from the casing?

b) As an internal drive did you initialise and format it as a GPT drive?

c) Post a screenshot of how your drive looks like in Partition Wizard - the very first screen when you launch the application

d) Why didn't you open the Lost+Found folder and examine what files are inside it?

Our first attempt is always to recover the files and then only consider restoring the drive - which may or may not be possible. During this process we may also bungle and lose everything. . There is no two way about it. So to start with you must have another external drive ready to copy the files.

a) I bought it and immediately used it as an internal drive. That was my soul purpose for getting it (It was on sale and therefor cheaper than ordering an bare internal drive)

b) Yes the drive had been reformatted and initialized in GPT as that was an initial discovery that only about 2GB showed when I first installed the drive.

c) I did post a screen shot, that would be the third picture down. It only shows about half of the max capacity.

d)I did open the Lost+Found folders on both halves of the drive. There is stuff in the first half but nothing in the second half

I've since been recovering what I can to that drive label 'Backup'. There is only about 1TB worth of stuff that the recovery was about to find...and even less of that needs to be saved as a lot of it is system files and programs that can be replaced by other means.

I'm not opposed to getting a 4TB External HDD but I don't see it being necessary here.

"I did post a screen shot, that would be the third picture down. It only shows about half of the max capacity."
That was the Partition Recovery Wizard Window. What I wanted to see "Post a screenshot of how your drive looks like in Partition Wizard - the very first screen when you launch the application

"I've since been recovering what I can to that drive label 'Backup'. There is only about 1TB worth of stuff that the recovery was about to find...and even less of that needs to be saved as a lot of it is system files and programs that can be replaced by other means."

What program are you using to recover the data?

So your only requirement now is you want to restore your 4TB drive.

Open Command prompt. Start > All programs > Accessories > Command Prompt > Run as administrator

Type
CHKDSK K: /f /v /r /x Press enter. Note: Replace K: with the actual drive letter of your faulty drive

Allow check disk to complete.

NOTE: There is an element of risk when you run this check Disk. If you interrupt it halfway through or it aborts itself midway unable to correct any file system discrepancy, it will leave your HDD in a much worse condition. You may have to reformat the drive.

Do not interrupt check disk halfway through. Allow it to run even if it takes one day. When check disk runs, do not do anything else on the PC. No multitasking.

OK, that is it. You will be doing that at your own risk.

The safe procedure will be to use TestDisk to check and correct any file system deficiency found. Follow the same procedure I will be delineating in the other concurrent thread External HD - Partition Unallocated

The choice is yours.

Very well, here is the screenshot of the drive...though it shows the same thing as my third picture in the original post...only half the drive.


I'm going to follow along with using PW and Testdisk to see if I can get the drive back to working order WITH everything on it still (and then partition the drive into at least two smaller drives seeing as windows has issues with dealing in anything over 2TB).

What you see with your eyes and what I see with my eyes(+brains - if I have one.(My wife always has this doubt) ) can be quite different. How is that?

Try doing this now.

In the Partition Wizard screenshot you posted your drive F: shows as (Other). Right click on that partition F: click on Change Partition Type ID and change it to NTFS. Click on Apply in the Top Menu bar if needed to effect the change.



If after making it read NTFS also your drive is not recovered, then you have to use TestDisk to replace the corrupted volume Boot sector with its backup if the backup is found OK,

When I try to change partition ID I am brought to this window

It is slightly different from how yours is displayed (different version)
The problem is...NTFS isn't an option. What I have to choose from are

MBR Partition Scheme
EFI System Partition
BIOS Boot Partition
Intel Fast Flash Partition
Sony Boot partition
Lenovo Boot partition
Windows-Basic Data partition
Windows-LDM Metadata partition
Windows-LDM Data partition
Windows-Recovery Environment
Windows-IBM GPFS Partition
Windows-Storage Spaces partition

Let us go with a known devil.

Uninstall PW 10/10.1/10.2.1 and install version 9.1. Download from FileHorse .Have a look at my post #2 here External HD - Partition Unallocated