RAW to NTFS without losing data

[HoldenBurn1000]

Hi All,

Hope you are all well.

I have a bit of a problem that I hope someone can help me with.

I have a laptop drive here with 3 partitions, the main data partition has somehow converted to RAW format. Is there anyway I can make this NTFS without deleting the data?

If not anyway I can get that data off so I can then format?

My mac is virtualized with linux and windows &. My Mac wont read the drive "this drive is unreadable" windows 7 doesn't even attempt to mount it (its found in management but can do nothing more with it) and linux sees the drive in management, shows as healthy but will not allow me to read data.


Any ideas guys? Any input would be a great help.

[dirky]

How big is it? I would be tempted to image it if you have enough space, especially if the data is even semi important. TBH I dont know but you could try (after image!) to just change the partition/fs type in fdisk to ntfs? Was it ntfs before?

[Splash]

If you really need the data back I'd be looking to take an image of the disk, then you're looking at file recovery software - run this on the image, not the disk. Recuva might be a good freebie starting point, or if you have a budget then GetDataBack is a pretty decent product (you could use the trial to see what you can recover, but to recover data you need to buy it).

[Forumboxbomer]

To tell the truth, there is no any practical way to convert the RAW into NTFS now. But, I don’t mean there is also no way to settle your problem.
In fact, the method is quite simple.
1. Recover your data from the raw partition firstly.
You refuse to format it for the sake of the data there. So, you definitely can get the data back at first and then format it. Of course, unless you are an expert at this aspect, you have to restore it in the help of a recovery program, such as Recuva, PC Inspector, PhotoRec, iCare Data Recovery Free, Easeus,etc. If you want to know further information about data recovery stuff, you are supposed to read this text carefully, which will help you learn more about it and make a wise decision:
Tested Data Recovery Freeware
squidoo.com/tested-data-recovery-freeware-recommendations-for-you

2. Format it for another use.
Formatting is the only efficient way to return the partition into its original state now. You have to format it. Actually, after the recovery, you absolutely could format it without any worrying.
I hope everything can be ok as soon as possible. Good luck!

[Akira]

I've used Easus Data Recovery Wizard to save many HD contents at work (as long as there isn't a mechanical issue). My usual MO is to bung the drive into a dock and then recover on the PC I'm using. As folks have already pointed out though I'd be sorely tempted to image the drive before doing anything else

Good luck!

[Kumagoro]

Forum box bomer is wrong you can change it back to ntfs relatively simply I have done out in the past using the cmd prompt. You have to set it to 25 I believe which is ntfs. How exactly I don't remember but a bit of googling well bring up the right command.

[Shamble]

Has the unit been dropped at all? This can happen if a drive has suffered some physical damage. Even after you restore a working partition table, I wouldn't necessarily trust that drive for storing anything important. Make sure you are syncing your important data to an external drive, or something like Dropbox.

There is a way to change file system using the Convert command from command prompt, but this does not support RAW format.

[Kumagoro]

I think the original poster may not be too worried about it now.

But for others with the same problem I think the solution is something like this
http://outrospective.org/wordpress/2...windows-tools/
It is changing the type from 0 to 7, I thought the number 25 had some significant but I may be just getting old now. This may not be exactly the right thing but it was very similar

Open a cmd window
Type*diskpart*and enter
A seperate diskpart window kicks off with a DISKPART> prompt.
Find the partition you want to unhide using LIST and SELECT commands
DISKPART> list partition
* Partition ###* Type************* Size**** Offset
————-* —————-* ——-* ——-
Partition 1*** Primary************ 55 MB*** 32 KB
Partition 2*** Primary************ 89 GB*** 55 MB
Partition 3*** Primary************ 60 GB*** 89 GB
DISKPART> list disk
* Disk ###* Status******** Size**** Free**** Dyn* Gpt
——–* ————-* ——-* ——-* —* —
Disk 0*** Online********* 149 GB***** 0 B
Disk 1*** Online******** 5831 MB***** 0 B
DISKPART> select disk 0
Disk 0 is now the selected disk.
DISKPART> list partition
* Partition ###* Type************* Size**** Offset
————-* —————-* ——-* ——-
Partition 1*** Primary************ 55 MB*** 32 KB
Partition 2*** Primary************ 89 GB*** 55 MB
Partition 3*** Primary************ 60 GB*** 89 GB
DISKPART> select partition 2
Partition 2 is now the selected partition.
DISKPART> detail partition
*
Partition 2
Type* : 17
Hidden: Yes
Active: No
Offset in Bytes: 57576960
There is no volume associated with this partition.
DISKPART> SET ID=07
DISKPART> detail partition
Partition 2
Type* : 07
Hidden: No
Active: No
Offset in Bytes: 57576960
Volume ###* Ltr* Label******* Fs**** Type******* Size**** Status**** Info
———-* —* ———–* —–* ———-* ——-* ———* ——–
* Volume 3**** F*************** NTFS** Partition**** 89 GB* Healthy
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[nitincool4urcha]

@kumagoro

When I ran the detail partition command, it directly gave me type=07 but below in the volume detail it showed RAW instead of NTFS

Hopefully, there must be a means to convert that volume back into NTFS. Please let me know if you have any solution.