NTFS converted or defaulted to RAW

[Jamess B. Holladay]

On a single reboot my computer converted a storage drive from NTSF to RAW
and now I can't access it. I download a lite software and was able to
confirm my files are still there and in tact.
The drive is a 200gb but now that it shows as RAW drive it only shows about
127gb.
Aside form spending a large sum of money I can't afford how can I convert it
back without formating and losing my data.
I understand it can be done. I also understand this is a getting to be a
common problem with harddrives set up with NTFS.
Help would be appreciated.

 

[Richard Urban MVP]

The drive has lost it's partition structure or it's partition "type".

This happens occasionally. To my knowledge no one has ever figured out "why"
it happens!

The fix is not for the faint of heart and there is one thing that you
absolutely need to know before you begin. What TYPE of FILE SYSTEM was being
used on the hard drive? If you are 100% certain that you know there is (may
be) a way to recover.

There is a little DOS program included with Partition Magic 8.01. It is
called ptedit. This program can only be used from within "pure DOS". When
you use Partition Magic 8.01 to create the 2 disk floppy set (the DOS
version of Partition Magic) this little program is placed in the set.

You have to boot the computer from disk 1 of the floppy set. Then insert
disk 2 when asked to. After you are in Partition Magic, EXIT from the
program. You will be back at the A: prompt. Re-insert floppy disk 1.

Now, type in ptedit and press enter. The program will start. This program
allows you to change the drive "type". It is imperative that you are certain
that you are working on the correct drive. You can choose drives at the top
of the program window. Once you have chosen the correct drive, click in the
**Line 1 | Type** box.

This will energize the "Set_Type" box at the bottom. Now click the mouse on
the "Set_Type" BOX. Look for the file system that you KNOW was being used.
There are many choices. Choose the correct file system and follow the
instructions from there.

NOTE: If you choose the wrong file system, and commit the change, you may
corrupt any information that is on the drive.

I have successfully recovered about a dozen drives that have gone RAW, or
otherwise lost their partition structure, by using this great little DOS
program.

NOTE: This program CAN NOT be used from within Windows.

And "shame" on the computer manufacturers who deliver new computers without
a floppy drive installed!


There is also a Windows version of ptedit called ptedit32. The usage is the
same. Search Google to find a source for this utility.


--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Al Dykes]

On a single reboot my computer converted a storage drive from NTSF to RAW
and now I can't access it. I download a lite software and was able to
confirm my files are still there and in tact.
The drive is a 200gb but now that it shows as RAW drive it only shows about
127gb.
Aside form spending a large sum of money I can't afford how can I convert it
back without formating and losing my data.
I understand it can be done. I also understand this is a getting to be a
common problem with harddrives set up with NTFS.
Help would be appreciated.

Was this an internal drive or one in a USB or FW backpack?

Just curious.

 

[AJR]

Just a comment - I make it a habit of scanning various newsgroups and
"chuckle" about many of the responses posted. Richard your post is one of
the best and should be a "guide" to others on how to provide assistance.

 

[Richard Urban MVP]

I lost 3 out of 4 drives once at shutdown. This was the only way I could
recover my data (other than my backups).

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

Just a comment - I make it a habit of scanning various newsgroups and
"chuckle" about many of the responses posted. Richard your post is one of
the best and should be a "guide" to others on how to provide assistance.

 

[Jamess B. Holladay]

Internal. Western Digital 200gb storage.
It appears this problem is most common with NTFS and IDE drives.
All my main (OS) drives are SCSI and I have never had the problem.

 

[Jamess B. Holladay]

I tried ptedit32 and either did not know how to use it correctly or
something but I was not able to get it back using this app.
The other version ptedit is not share or freeware.
Richard, I would like to know more about how this works. It was your article
which gave my first guidance.

 

[Richard Urban MVP]

NTFS partition should be listed as type 07 (installable file system {NTFS,
HPFS}) in PTedit32.

What is your drive listed as?

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Jamess B. Holladay]

It is listed as you said it should be, but I am not able to
proceed with any other function.

 

[Richard Urban MVP]

I have never seen a drive listed as RAW with any other code except 00 (free
space) for the drive.

Last bit of info. EasyRecovery Professional (expensive) has a special module
just for recovering data from a drive that is listed as RAW. Because the
drive can't be used, the drive has NOT been written to since it went RAW.
Therefore all the data is still there and is recoverable.

Go to www.ontrack.com to find out about EasyRecovery Professional. I have
always been able to recover 100% of disk files using this program. You need
a second drive of equivalent capacity as the RAW drive to copy the recovered
files to.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!

 

[Jamess B. Holladay]

NTFS TO RAW ON REBOOT:

After many days and inquiries I have uncovered what I believe is the cause
of the growing problem of Hard disk drives reverted to RAW file systems form
NTFS file systems. It appears the problem stems for the inability of older
IDE controllers not being able to handle the size of newer HDDs, i.e.
controllers on older mother boards don't know what to do with the
organization of newer HDDs.

Mother boards that go back just few years have on board IDE controllers that
are in affect obsolete with larger HDDs. HDD improvements and increases in
size have out distanced the controllers that are attached to. Most computers
older than a couple of years won't recognize a HDD larger than about 128gbs.
If you put a 200gb HDD in a computer built 3 years ago it will probably show
up as a 128gb or smaller. This is where the problem starts.

HDD manufacturers such as Western Digital have no idea where the drive will
be used i.e. a Mac or a PC, or how old modern the IDE controller is. In
order to meet market demand for larger HDDs most include a disk with
software which is used to fool the controller in to believing the drive is
of a size it can handle, most of the time this works ok, but have a bad put
away (shut down or reboot) and all bets are off. The software gets scrambled
and you no longer have accurate and cleanly misleading instructions for the
controller and you lose you NTFS file system image and it reverts back to
RAW which is the same as having no file system. In essence the Master File
Table gets scrambled. The date is still there just like it was before the
reboot but because the controller does not recognize it, it is indicated as
RAW.

Most inexpensive data recovery software with allow you to see it and copy it
to a good drive a properly formatted drive.

Until the HDD manufacturers do a better job with their "fool the computer
software" and make it more stable this NTFS to RAW will continue to be a
problem. In fact the incidence will probably increase as the drives get
bigger and more people put them in older computers. The other thing that
needs to happen is the manufactures not to provide a small application which
will restore the NTFS nomenclature (so to speak) because the all the files
are still on the imaginary volume

created with their "fool the computer software".

Creating this would be easy, it can be done without a format or without
causing a loss of date.

This other solution for those who want to use the larger HDDs in older
computes is to run cable your drives to an after market newer IDE controller
card plugged into a PCI slot.

In summary the problem is in two areas, connecting newer drives to older
motherboards and the quality of the software being distributed by
manufactures such as Western Digital to exploit a larger market.

The the manufacturers I say provide the second part of the fix, the
application to revert back to NTFS from RAW after a bad restart.

 

[PanHandler]

NTFS TO RAW ON REBOOT:

After many days and inquiries I have uncovered what I believe is the cause
of the growing problem of Hard disk drives reverted to RAW file systems
form
NTFS file systems. It appears the problem stems for the inability of older
IDE controllers not being able to handle the size of newer HDDs, i.e.
controllers on older mother boards don't know what to do with the
organization of newer HDDs.

Mother boards that go back just few years have on board IDE controllers
that
are in affect obsolete with larger HDDs. HDD improvements and increases in
size have out distanced the controllers that are attached to. Most
computers
older than a couple of years won't recognize a HDD larger than about
128gbs.
If you put a 200gb HDD in a computer built 3 years ago it will probably
show
up as a 128gb or smaller. This is where the problem starts.

HDD manufacturers such as Western Digital have no idea where the drive
will
be used i.e. a Mac or a PC, or how old modern the IDE controller is. In
order to meet market demand for larger HDDs most include a disk with
software which is used to fool the controller in to believing the drive
is
of a size it can handle, most of the time this works ok, but have a bad
put
away (shut down or reboot) and all bets are off. The software gets
scrambled
and you no longer have accurate and cleanly misleading instructions for
the
controller and you lose you NTFS file system image and it reverts back to
RAW which is the same as having no file system. In essence the Master File
Table gets scrambled. The date is still there just like it was before the
reboot but because the controller does not recognize it, it is indicated
as
RAW.

Most inexpensive data recovery software with allow you to see it and copy
it
to a good drive a properly formatted drive.

Until the HDD manufacturers do a better job with their "fool the computer
software" and make it more stable this NTFS to RAW will continue to be a
problem. In fact the incidence will probably increase as the drives get
bigger and more people put them in older computers. The other thing that
needs to happen is the manufactures not to provide a small application
which
will restore the NTFS nomenclature (so to speak) because the all the files
are still on the imaginary volume

created with their "fool the computer software".

Creating this would be easy, it can be done without a format or without
causing a loss of date.

This other solution for those who want to use the larger HDDs in older
computes is to run cable your drives to an after market newer IDE
controller
card plugged into a PCI slot.

In summary the problem is in two areas, connecting newer drives to older
motherboards and the quality of the software being distributed by
manufactures such as Western Digital to exploit a larger market.

The the manufacturers I say provide the second part of the fix, the
application to revert back to NTFS from RAW after a bad restart.

Thanks for the informative update. I have a Western 120GB external USB drive
that changed from FAT 32 to RAW. I've been avoiding the $400 + fee that
local shops want to recover data. Hell, I could buy the recovery software
they use for the same $$$, use it, and still have it if I ever need it
again!

 

[Richard Urban]

I could buy your main hypothesis (IDE controller too old for current
drives), except for one happening.

I myself have lost 3 out of 4 drives on my main computer a couple of years
ago. I had 2-120 gig drives and 2-40 gig drives. Upon a bad shutdown I had
1-120 gig drive and both 40 gig drives revert to RAW. The remaining 120 gig
drive kept all of the information and file structure intact. All the drives
were on the onboard IDE controller. I was able to recover all the drives
that went RAW by using Ptedit and assigning them as partition type 0F
(extended X partition). My boot drive remained designated as partition type
07 (installable file system NTFS, HPFS) and was NOT turned to RAW.

I have yet to see an official explanation as to why something like this
would occur.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

Quote from George Ankner:
If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!