User:Андрейоиоролтооштотрп/RAW (файловая система)

RAW (in operating systems of the Microsoft Windows NT family) is the designation for an undefined volume file system.

The RAWFS component exists and is built into the kernel itself, but the only purpose of this component is to answer requests from applications for volume size and file system name.

In fact, the RAW file system does not exist, and the definition of the file system of the partition as RAW in practice means that none of the file system drivers installed in the operating system recognized the file system name of the disk in the partition (neither known to FAT, FAT32 nor as NTFS ) due to the fact that:


 * the disk (volume) is not formatted - most often for new flash drives / disks; there is no correct access to the contents of the disk (volume); the structure of the file system is corrupted.

If the disk file system is recognized as RAW, reading data, assigning a volume label, and other operations with this partition (for example, defragmenting or checking for errors) become impossible. At the same time, the operating system displays the size of the partition and, when accessing it, suggests formatting it.

Possible reasons
Damage to the structure of the file system occurs as a result of failures in the operation of a computer or programs, as well as due to the activity of various kinds of malicious programs. The following damage can be identified:


 * incorrect values for a partition in the partition table; partial destruction in the boot sector of the file system; destruction in the area of the main MFT file table (for the NTFS file system);  problems with drivers for peripheral devices (USB flash drives, docking stations);  Unplanned shutdown of the computer, for example, at the time of a power outage or blue screen;  Problems on physical hardware;  while formatting a partition, the file system may appear as RAW.

One possible reason is that erroneous data has been written to the boot sector or MFT. In the event that most of the structures of the file system remained intact, the probability of restoring the file system is high.

In case of partition information corruption, programs that can restore partitions can be used, such as GetDataBack, TestDisk, PhotoRec, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, DMDE, or others (see Data Recovery Software)

In addition to all that has been said, the RAW file system can mean a real-life volume formatted by another operating or hardware system and at the same time containing any data. For example, it can be a disk from a video recorder. Another example: as a result of volume encryption (for example, using True Crypt software), the operating system determines the volume's file system as RAW.

Recovery option
Run the command prompt as administrator, run the command chkdsk X: /f where X is the letter of the damaged disk partition. chkdsk does not work with a RAW format that was originally created, for example, on a disk from a storage array, chkdsk will be able to repair media that previously had an NTFS or FAT file system.

It is important to understand, however, that system utilities such as chkdsk are intended primarily to bring the file system back to a working state, and not to restore user data. Therefore, in some cases, running such utilities can lead to a significant loss of the original information. So, for example, in case of erroneous underestimation of the size of the NTFS volume in the boot sector parameters, the chkdsk utility will remove all links that go beyond the specified volume, all affected files will become empty.

Links

 * Using Raw Partitions with Microsoft SQL Server