Check disk is not available for raw drives

When your hard drive, USB stick, or external storage device suddenly becomes RAW, and Windows displays the error message:

“The type of the file system is RAW. CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives,”

it usually means that your drive’s file system is corrupted, missing, or unreadable. Unfortunately, standard disk-check tools like CHKDSK cannot scan or repair RAW file systems, as they rely on a recognized file structure like NTFS, FAT32, or exFAT.

In this guide, you’ll learn what a RAW file system is, why CHKDSK can’t fix it, and what steps you can take to recover your data or restore your drive to working condition.

What Is a RAW File System?

A RAW file system means the drive has no recognizable file system or that the file system is severely corrupted. As a result, Windows cannot mount or access the volume. This can occur due to:

Sudden power loss

Improper ejection

Virus or malware attacks

Failing hardware (e.g., bad sectors)

Interrupted formatting or partition changes

When a drive becomes RAW, it will often appear in Disk Management with no file system type or display as “RAW,” and you won’t be able to open it in File Explorer.

Why Can’t CHKDSK Fix RAW Drives?

CHKDSK (Check Disk) is a built-in Windows tool that verifies and fixes file system errors. However, it only works on drives formatted with supported file systems such as NTFS or FAT32. When the system encounters a RAW drive, it doesn’t know how to interpret the data and refuses to scan.

Hence, running CHKDSK on a RAW drive returns the error:

“CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives.”

How to Fix a RAW Drive Without Losing Data

1. Do Not Format the Drive Immediately

Windows may prompt you to format the RAW drive. Don’t do it unless you’ve recovered all important data. Formatting will erase the contents and may complicate data recovery later.

2. Use Data Recovery Software

If the drive contains valuable files, try using professional data recovery tools that can scan RAW partitions:

Recuva

EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard

R-Studio

MiniTool Power Data Recovery

Steps:

Download and install the tool on a different drive.

Select the RAW drive from the list.

Perform a deep scan to find lost files.

Recover files to another healthy drive (not to the RAW one).

3. Reformat the Drive (After Backup or Recovery)

Once your data is safely recovered:

Open Disk Management (press Win + X > Disk Management).

Right-click on the RAW drive and select Format.

Choose NTFS or exFAT, depending on how you plan to use the drive.

Follow the prompts to format and restore usability.

4. Optional: Use DiskPart to Clean and Reformat

If the format fails via Disk Management:

Open Command Prompt as Administrator.

select disk X (replace X with your drive number)

create partition primary

format fs=ntfs quick

This wipes and rebuilds the partition table.

Conclusion

When a drive becomes RAW, Windows cannot interact with it using standard tools like CHKDSK. While alarming, you may still be able to recover your data using professional software. Once recovered, formatting the drive should restore its functionality. Always maintain regular backups to minimize data loss in the future.

Let me know if you need a tool recommendation or recovery guidance for Mac or Linux systems.