What Is “CHKDSK Is Not Available for RAW Drives” & How to Fix

Sometimes, when you try to access a drive in File Explorer, it may fail to open and ask you to format it. To fix potential file system errors, you may try running CHKDSK, but only to see the message – CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives.

What does this error message mean? Keep reading to find out.

What Does “CHKDSK Is Not Available for RAW Drives” Mean

The error usually indicates that Windows cannot recognize the drive’s file system, and the drive is currently in a RAW state.

What Is a RAW Drive

A RAW drive is a storage device whose file system is corrupted, unreadable, or missing. A RAW drive cannot be used normally on Windows. When you try to access it, it may trigger prompts to format the disk.

Limitations of CHKDSK on RAW Drives

Why cannot CHKDSK repair a RAW drive?

CHKDSK is a Windows command-line tool designed to check and repair file system errors. It functions by examining the logical structure of a valid file system. Without a valid file system, CHKDSK cannot operate.

That is why the “CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives” error appears.

What Causes a Drive to Become RAW

A drive can become RAW due to several reasons, including:

• File system corruption due to improper ejection, sudden power loss, or system crash.
• File system missing because the drive has not been formatted.
• Malware or virus attacks that delete or corrupt file system information.
• Damaged partition table.
• Physical disk errors or bad sectors.
• An unsupported file system for the current operating system.

What can you do if the disk becomes RAW? The following section will guide you through the solutions.

How to Fix CHKDSK Not Available for RAW Drive Without Losing Data

Here is a quick video guide:

Formatting is almost the only way to fix a RAW drive. Formatting creates a new, valid file system, restoring the drive to a usable state. After formatting, you can use the drive normally, and tools like CHKDSK can be used again.

However, formatting will remove all files on the disk, bypassing the Recycle Bin. If there are important files, you should recover them first to prevent data loss, and then format the drive.

Keep reading, and I will walk you through detailed steps to recover files from a RAW drive and format it.

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Recover Files From the RAW Drive

MiniTool Power Data Recovery is a professional data recovery tool that works great for RAW drives, formatted disks, lost partitions, and more. It allows you to recover deleted or lost documents, photos, videos, audio files, emails, and other types of files.

Whether the RAW drive is a USB drive, SD card, internal hard drive, or external hard drive, this free data recovery software can effectively recover your data.

With just three simple steps, you can recover your files from the inaccessible RAW drive:

1. Scan the RAW drive.
2. Find and preview your files.
3. Save the wanted files.

Now, get MiniTool Power Data Recovery and give it a try.

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Follow the steps below to start recovering your files.

Step 1. Select the RAW Drive to Scan

Once you are on the main interface of this file recovery tool, locate your RAW drive, which usually appears as Unidentified. Select it and click the Scan button to start scanning.

The scan duration varies depending on the volume size and the amount of data. Wait for the scan to complete to get the best scanning outcomes.

Step 2. Locate and Preview Files

After scanning, deleted, lost, or existing files found on the drive are listed under Path and Type. You can browse through them by the folder structure or file type.

Once you find the files you want to recover, tick the checkboxes next to them for preparation.

If there are a large number of files listed, you can use the Filter or Search feature to locate the target items faster.

After clicking Filter, you will be able to filter out unwanted files by file type, modification date, file size, and file category.

If you still remember the file name, simply type it or part of it in the search box and press Enter. Then the target file will show up.

To check file content, double-click on a file to preview it.

Step 3. Save Required Files

Browse through all the files and make sure the ones you want to recover are checked. Then click Save. In the pop-up window, select a safe location to store the recovered files and click OK to begin recovering.

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Format the RAW Drive to a Recognized File System

After recovering files from the RAW drive, the next step is to format it to a normal state. In the following parts, I will show you how to format a RAW drive with CMD, Disk Management, File Explorer, and MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Option 1. Use CMD

You can use the Command Prompt to format the RAW drive quickly, especially if you prefer using commands. Here is how to do that.

Step 1. Type cmd in the Windows search box. When the Command Prompt option appears, right-click it and choose Run as administrator.

Step 2. Type the following commands to run DiskPart and format the RAW drive. Remember to press Enter after each command.

• diskpart
• list volume
• select volume # (replace # with the actual volume number of the RAW drive)
• format fs=ntfs quick (you can replace ntfs with another preferred file system like fat32)

If you are not familiar with command lines, it is better to use the built-in graphical tools.

Option 2. Use Disk Management

Disk Management provides a graphical interface to perform disk-related operations. So, you can follow the steps below to format the RAW drive in Disk Management.

Step 1. Right-click the Start button and choose Disk Management.

Step 2. Find your RAW drive, right-click the partition, and choose Format.

Step 3. In the Format wizard, type a volume label and choose a file system. Tick the Perform a quick format option, and click OK.

Step 4. Click OK again to confirm, and wait for the process to complete.

Option 3. Use File Explorer

For a RAW drive, when you try to open it in File Explorer, you will usually see the prompt “You need to format the disk before you can use it”. You can click Format disk to format the drive directly from this prompt.

If no prompt appears, you can alternatively right-click the drive and select Format.

In the pop-up window, set up the file system and volume label. Keep Quick Format ticked, and click Start.

If you have difficulty fixing the RAW drive with CMD, Disk Management, or File Explorer, MiniTool Partition Wizard can help.

Option 4. Use MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard is a professional partition manager designed for Windows users. It can help you format partitions to NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, and several other file systems.

You can use MiniTool Partition Wizard to format a RAW drive for free. Here are the detailed steps.

Step 1. Download, install, and launch MiniTool Partition Wizard.

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Step 2. Find and select the RAW partition, and then click Format Partition from the left sidebar.

Step 3. Next, type a partition label, select a file system, and click OK.

Step 4. Review the format effect. If it is satisfied, click the Apply button in the lower left corner to confirm.

Once your drive has been formatted, you can run CHKDSK or use other tools to monitor its health without encountering the “CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives” error on Windows 10/11.

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How to Prevent a Drive From Becoming RAW

To avoid suffering from the RAW issue again in the future, it is important to take some preventive measures. Here are a few useful tips for your reference.

Tip 1. Safely Use Your Disk

Many disk problems start from improper handling. Pay attention to these tips to avoid it:

• Always eject your USB drive or external drives properly using the Safely Remove Hardware option.
• Avoid unplugging the drive during file transfer or shutting down your computer while the drive is in use.
• Keep Windows Defender or other antivirus software turned on. This prevents your disks and files from virus infection.
• Avoid plugging and unplugging the drive frequently.
• Store the drive in a stable and clean environment to reduce hardware failures.

Tip 2. Monitor Disk Health Regularly

Regularly checking disk health status can help find and repair file system issues early. You can run the built-in error-checking tool or a reliable third-party tool periodically to detect and repair errors.

To run the error-checking tool:

Open File Explorer, right-click your disk, and choose Properties.

Next, go to the Tools tab and click Check under Error checking.

Tip 3. Back Up Important Files

Sometimes, even if you handle your drives carefully, they can still fail. Therefore, it is important to always protect your files.

To keep your data safe, you can back up important files to multiple locations, either manually or using data backup software.

If you are looking for a Windows backup tool, MiniTool ShadowMaker is recommended. It brings easy data backup, system backup, and disk/partition backup automatically. Get the Trial Edition to use it for free for 30 days.

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1. Launch the backup software and click Keep Trial to proceed.
2. Go to the Backup tab.
3. Click SOURCE to select the files, folders, partitions, or disks you want to back up. Then click DESTINATION to select a location for the backup file.
4. Click Back Up Now to start the backup process.

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Bottom Line

When the “CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives” error appears, it means the file system is severely damaged, and CHKDSK does not support RAW drives at all. Formatting the drive is the only way to fix it.

If you want to keep your files, use MiniTool Power Data Recovery to scan the drive and save the files first. Then, format the drive by using DiskPart, Disk Management, or other tools.

If you have any questions when using MiniTool’s products, do not hesitate to contact the support team at [email protected]. We’re always ready for help.

CHKDSK Is Not Available for RAW Drives FAQ