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Format RAW drive to recover data?

L

lahatte

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Dec 10, 2023
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I have a drive that has lost it's way, and shows as RAW in the Windows Disk Manager. I cannot access the drive.

I am wondering if it might be possible to format the drive to get an NTSC partition back on it, then use a Recovery tool used to get data from a formatted drive.

Has anyone ever tried that successfully?
 
Have you tried chkdsk? I had a drive become RAW at random and chkdsk fixed it temporarily - long enough to get the data off. Data recovery programs are not an ideal solution as you get a lot of junk data as well.
 
Chkdsk is having difficulty reading it. Did you use the /F or just run it in read mode?
 
No idea - it was a long time ago. Try it both ways?

I just ran it to see what the issue was and next thing I know it was a fully working bootable device. The computer deleted it again so I recovered it in the same way, and transferred the data to another drive.
 
Is it the 870EVO from your other post? Better go on there, so all the information stays in one post.
 
lahatte said:
Chkdsk is having difficulty reading it. Did you use the /F or just run it in read mode?
Click to expand...
/F tell it to repair damage. Formatting is the worst possible thing you can do.
 
tools like r-studio can recover data when the MFT / partition info is toast
 
If you left it powered on, kiss the data goodbye.

NAND does self recondition due to pseidoSLC mode. It does garbage collection internally. So basically it wipes itself while being powered on. Only way for certain drives is to boot it via uart or solder the NANDs if those are unencrypted and read RAW data.

All other tools are aimed for rust spinners and more simple SD card mediums, that doesn't do TRIM. Some do, as Samsung USB3 flash drives, they reside Silcon Motion controller that does TRIM.
 
Ahhzz said:
If you REALLY need the data back, I would try this: https://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm . Always had the best luck recovering data with this one, but it's not free.
Click to expand...
There is also a free alternative for home use. Lazesoft Recovery Suite 4.7 Home Edition.
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Thanks for the responses. Just FYI, I went ahead and did a quick format on it, which made it so the OS could see it. Then I used EASEUS Data Recovery tool to scan it for data to recover.

It is in the recovering stage now. The drive had just under 1TB filled of the 4TB. So far the recovery has gotten most all of that, which is fine, because the main thing I need is what directories were there so I can re-install stuff to replicate what was there on another drive.

Solaris17 said:
/F tell it to repair damage. Formatting is the worst possible thing you can do.
Click to expand...
This drive gets the clamps!

SPDIF said:
Is it the 870EVO from your other post? Better go on there, so all the information stays in one post.
Click to expand...
It is, but I created a new thread because it's a bit of a different topic, and when future travelers search for this topic or similar, well... :)
 
i have had good results with test-disk software. its a DOS based thing that can be run form windows. I had acidentally deleted a partition and i was able to recover it with this. its free as well.
 
R-Studio is a good program. Use it at work a lot.
 
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