RAW SD Card Recovery: How to Fix RAW Card Without Losing Data

Quick Answer:

A RAW SD card means the file system is corrupted or unrecognized by Windows, making the data inaccessible. In this situation, you typically have two options:

1. Attempt to repair the SD card using the CHKDSK command
2. Format the SD card to restore usability

However, formatting will erase all data on the card. Therefore, the correct RAW disk repair flow is:

Recover data from RAW SD card first, and then format the card to restore its functionality.

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A RAW drive means the drive does not have a file system or has a file system that Windows does not recognize. To be specific, a RAW drive in Windows is a partition that has not been formatted with the file system of FAT12/FAT16/FAT32/exFAT/NTFS.

If your SD card has a RAW file system, you will encounter the following error messages:

• “Card not formatted. Format card with this camera.”
• “You need to format the disk before you can use it.“
• “[Drive letter:]\ is not accessible. The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted.”
• “The type of the file system is RAW. CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives.”

This guide explains how to repair a RAW SD card step by step.

How to Fix RAW SD Card Without Formatting

CHKDSK can fix logical errors on an SD card without formatting, but it only works when the drive is not in a fully RAW or unreadable state.

Steps to run CHKDSK on an SD card:

1. Connect the RAW SD card to your PC.
2. Run Command Prompt as an administrator.
3. Type chkdsk [drive letter:] /f /r (e.g. chkdsk H: /f /r) and then press Enter.
4. Wait until the process is complete. Then type exit and press Enter.

This is how to fix RAW SD card without formatting. However, if the card is deeply corrupted, you may see this error message “CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives”.

If CHKDSK fails to repair the RAW SD card, you need to format the disk.

How to Format RAW SD Card Without Losing Data

To safely format a RAW SD card without losing data, you should follow these two processes:

1. Use free RAW SD card recovery software to restore files
2. Format the card using File Explorer or disk management software

Process 1. Recover Files From RAW SD Card

When a drive becomes RAW, the only reliable method is to use data recovery software to scan the device and restore lost files.

Tools such as MiniTool Power Data Recovery are commonly used to recover photos, videos, and documents from inaccessible SD cards.

Real Test Experience:

I conducted a controlled test on my own system to simulate a real data loss scenario and used MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free to scan the drive to check whether it could detect and recover the lost files.

MiniTool Power Data Recovery FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Test Environment:

• Operating System: Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
• Storage Device: 14 GB SD card
• File System Condition: Manually corrupted to RAW state
• Test Data: photos, videos, and documents

Recovery Process:

Step 1. Scan the SD card

I connected the RAW SD card to my computer using a card reader. Then I launched the SD card recovery software and selected the RAW drive to scan.

Since the system could no longer recognize the file system, the card shows as Unidentified.

The scan took approximately 10 minutes.

Step 2. Find and preview the files

The software first ran a quick scan and then automatically entered deep scan mode. During this process, I did not interrupt it to avoid missing recoverable data.

After the scan finished, I used the Type and Filter features to locate lost files.

Since the file system was corrupted, most recovered files had lost their original file names. I previewed several images and documents to confirm that they were still intact.

Step 3. Recover the files

Finally, I selected all needed files and clicked Save, and saved them to an internal drive on my computer.

All of my photos and documents were successfully restored, and the Preview feature was helpful.

More Information About MiniTool Power Data Recovery:

MiniTool Power Data Recovery also provides several additional features beyond RAW SD card recovery:

• It supports recovery from HDDs, SSDs, USB drives, and CDs/DVDs.
• It can recover data from deleted or formatted partitions.
• The bootable edition supports recovering files from an unbootable computer.

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Process 2. Format SD Card

After recovering all important files on the SD card, you can format the RAW card to the NTFS or FAT32 file system.

You can choose to format the RAW SD card using File Explorer or MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Option 1. Use File Explorer

Step 1. In File Explorer, go to the This PC section and right-click the RAW SD card to select Format.

Step 2. In the new window, select a file system and specify a volume label. And, remember to check the Quick Format option. After that, click the Start button.

Option 2. Utilize MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard is a free partition manager that can help format a drive when File Explorer is unable to complete the formatting process.

MiniTool Partition Wizard FreeClick to Download100%Clean & Safe

Step 1. Select the RAW SD card partition and click Format Partition from the left menu.

Step 2. Set the partition label, file system, and cluster size for the SD card and click OK.

Step 3. Preview the formatted partition.

Step 4. Click the Apply button to execute the SD card formatting action.

After the formatting process is completed, you can reuse the SD card to store photos and other data again.

How to Prevent SD Cards From Becoming RAW

After fixing the RAW SD card, it is also important for you to take note of the following tips to reduce the possibility of the SD card becoming RAW.

• Prior to removing the SD card from the camera or mobile phone, it’s important to power off the device first.
• Don’t forcefully unplug the memory card from your computer. It is recommended to disconnect it from the PC using the “Safely Remove Hardware” feature.
• Run antivirus software to scan the SD card regularly.
• Protect your phone/camera and SD card from external threats such as scratches, squeeze, fire, water, and so on.

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Conclusion

When an SD card becomes RAW, the safest approach is to recover your files before attempting any repair. Once the recovery is complete, format the SD card to rebuild the file system and restore normal access.

Should you have any questions when using MiniTool products, please feel free to contact our support team via [email protected].

RAW SD Card Recovery FAQ