Raw Hard Drive

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Guest

I recently installed a new hard drive in my computer. I wanted to restore
some data from the old hard drive, but when I hooked it up, the system says
that it is a raw drive and needs to be formatted. I had another drive in the
computer which had data on it and this drive also is "raw". What could
possibly have caused this and is it recoverable? Both drives have a drive
letter. I have checked and doubled checked the jumper settings on the
drives. Both drives were readable only hours before this happened. The new
drive is a Seagate ST3120026A. One of the old drives is a Fujitsu MPG3204AT
and the other is a Maxtor. I have tried changing the connections to the IDE
controller, but no difference. One of the old drives was a backup for the
other one so I have no other backup.
 
sorry but i am not really sure how to fix this one but i know that they are
recoverable. i know this because they both have a drive letter. i have years
of experence with computers. i think i may have a fix. the application is
called PC Booster. i'm sorry but i am not giving you a free copy. it fixed
some big issues for me. it fixes a lot of issues. it fixes more issues then
it says it does. i like to experement with computers a lot. you can give it
a try if you want.

here is a link to the application:
http://www.inklineglobal.com/index_flash.html

for now you should try the help and support center in Windows XP.

feel free to e-mail me. i will help you with almost any PC issue.
 
Yes PC Booster will help .... not.


Steven Wabik said:
sorry but i am not really sure how to fix this one but i know that they
are recoverable. i know this because they both have a drive letter. i have
years of experence with computers. i think i may have a fix. the
application is called PC Booster. i'm sorry but i am not giving you a free
copy. it fixed some big issues for me. it fixes a lot of issues. it fixes
more issues then it says it does. i like to experement with computers a
lot. you can give it a try if you want.

here is a link to the application:
http://www.inklineglobal.com/index_flash.html

for now you should try the help and support center in Windows XP.

feel free to e-mail me. i will help you with almost any PC issue.
Click to expand...
 
There are two things that have worked for me - repeatedly.

1. The program EasyRecovery Professional from www.ontrack.com has a special
module just for recovering information from a drive that is reading as RAW.
The program is expensive in capital letters. To recover the files you need
another clean/formatted hard drive of equal or larger capacity than the
drive you are recovering from (the recovered files have to be placed
somewhere - right?). After the files have been recovered to the 2nd drive,
the original drive can be partitioned and formatted to be reused. I have
some drives that are still in use 2 1/2 years after doing this procedure.

I have been 100% successful using this program on 4-5 different drives that
have gone RAW.


2. The drive has lost it's partition structure or it's partition "type". It
could also read as being a RAW drive.

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 WILL
corrupt any information that is on the drive. This is absolute and
irrevocable!

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: The 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 thought you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!"
 
I have two ideas.
1st check your BIOS to make sure it's reading your old drives correctly. If
it is and I assume you put the operating system on the new HD. Try putting
your old HDs back the way they were and put the new one on IDE 2. Hopefully
the old system will come up, see the new HD and the old ones, move what you
want, swap the IDE ribbons then reformat the old drives.


Steven Wabik said:
sorry but it worked for me.
it fixed some hardware issues on my PC.
Click to expand...
 
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