Cause of loss · corrupted & RAW
A RAW volume is a warehouse whose stock list has been shredded. Every crate is still on the shelves; what's missing is the paperwork saying which shelf. That is why the corruption itself rarely costs people their data — the repair attempt that follows usually does.
Run the problem past an engineer
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| On screen | What's behind it | First move |
|---|---|---|
| You need to format the disk in drive X: before you can use it | The file system has stopped making sense to Windows; that is RAW in a nutshell | Don't press Format |
| The type of the file system is RAW. CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives. | CHKDSK declining the job; it has nothing to offer | Leave the disk alone |
| The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable (0x80070570) | Broken records within the MFT | Open nothing further |
| The disk structure is corrupted and unreadable (0x80070571) | Damage to the MFT or the partition map | Clone it, then repair |
| Location is not available — X:\ is not accessible. The parameter is incorrect. | A damaged file system, frequently sat on bad sectors | Treat the hardware as suspect |
| This volume does not contain a recognized file system. | Its metadata no longer exists | The files below are intact |
| macOS: The disk you inserted was not readable by this computer | RAW as a Mac renders it; whatever you do, don't press Initialize | Hit Eject, never Initialize |
Every item gets its own case number on the day it lands here. An engineer traces the fault, gives you a plain assessment of what is realistically recoverable, and puts one fixed price in writing. The diagnosis is free, you are under no obligation, and chargeable work starts only when you say go.
No repair starts until the disk has been copied sector by sector, with the fragile regions logged and left to the end of the run. Bad structures and bad hardware usually arrive together; a complete image covers you against both.
The MFT, the boot sector, the partition map: every rebuild is done against the image, so a wrong move can simply be undone.
Even a wrecked MFT leaves your file contents where they were. We lift them out of the image by signature and put folder structure back as far as the remaining clues stretch.
You get the full list of recovered files first, and nothing is charged until you approve it. Data goes back on fresh media, return postage paid, and the job stays open on our side until you confirm every file opens at your end.
The flaw in every repair utility: CHKDSK, First Aid, the free 'RAW fixer' from a forum — every one of them writes to the disk it claims to be saving. On sound hardware you will probably get away with that. On a drive that is failing, a full recovery turns into a partial one. A day is what imaging first costs you. Repairing in place can cost everything.
Unplugged mid-write one evening; by morning Windows wanted to format it. The whole drive was imaged first, and the repairs — boot sector, then the damaged MFT mirror — ran only on that image. A translator got back fifteen years of client files, folder structure intact.
A format puts down a clean, empty file system where the damaged one sat, and with it go the very structures that let a rebuild restore your folder names. Refuse the prompt — recovery comes first.
Windows can no longer read the volume's file system — usually damage to the partition table, the MFT or the boot sector. Underneath, the files are generally intact.
Not here, ever. It won't touch a RAW volume anyway, and on a failing drive each repair pass drags it nearer the end. If a repair has to happen, point it at an image, never the original.
Usually it's a drive unplugged mid-write. What breaks is the file system's index, not the files themselves — which makes this one of the tidier faults to put right.
Switch a failing device on again and you lose a little more. Open a case before you do — the diagnosis is free, whatever it finds.