How can you change the file system type of a hard drive without having to format and delete everything on it?

Question

Somehow the file system of my portable hard drive was changed from FAT or NTSH or whatever format it was to RAW. I don't know how. But now I can't access any of the files I have on it, but I know they are there. I figure that if I can change it, then all my files will still be there like nothing happened. Unless I'm wrong.

Answer 1

in answer to your initial question: yes, but not normally.

looking around, i didn't find any software to recover a raw filesystem for free



asqe: did you even look at the link you posted? it's not too helpful.





here's how i would recover your data were you to give me the device to fix.



1. quick format the drive. i'm assuming it's ntfs. If it's really old & ~ 20 GB, it may have been fat32

1.5 - do NOT put anything new on the drive

2. get recuva (free) - http://www.piriform.com/recuva

3. once installed, run the program: scan for all file types on the drive & deep scan

4. wait - this can take a very long time

5. save the files you want to recover to a DIFFERENT drive - if you save to the external drive, you can end up over-writing the data you are recovering

6. once you have all of the files you want, you can close the program & copy the files back over to the external hard drive



added..



additional details about the device & the error would be nice... i can provide troubleshooting & probable diagnosis if it fails..



- try rebooting the computer

- let the device power down, and try again

- check to ensure that the drive is running & has a good connection to the computer

could try a different cable & different computer



if it still won't work, it's possible that the interface or the drive is dead.

this can happen with flash memory, too. (happened to a usb drive of mine - had no warning, it just quit operating)



it is possible, if it's an interface failure, to recover the data.. get another external hard drive or hard drive enclosure for that drive size (5-1/4 or 3-1/2)

remove the drive from the one you have (you will have to disassemble it) and put it in the other enclosure & then try to access it from a computer



of course, it voids warranty, but you may be able to recover the data

Answer 2

formatting ability removing all documents. each and every thing. undeniable and easy. you may, technically, installation residing house windows in yet another itemizing, which might save all your previous documents. for xp, except your laptop is super previous, all you % is the installation cd. in case you have 2 no longer worry-free drives, basically a million no longer worry-free stress gets erased. in case you have a million partitioned no longer worry-free stress performing as 2 seperate no longer worry-free drives, the two may be wiped sparkling and you will then make a sparkling partition.

Answer 3

nothing its ever erase from any hardrive so dont loose all hope..



now theres many reasons why your harddrive changed to RAW...



you can try fixing it by taking to a computer shop and tell them what happend now if you wanna do it by yourselft go here:



http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-126686-change-file-system-raw-to-ntfs