When you encounter the error message “Check disk is not available for RAW drives”, it usually means your storage drive has lost its file system. Windows cannot run the chkdsk (Check Disk) utility on a RAW drive because the system no longer recognizes its structure — such as NTFS or FAT32 — which is necessary for standard disk checking and repairs.
This issue typically affects USB drives, SD cards, external hard drives, or even internal drives that have become corrupted or unreadable. Let’s look into what causes this, and more importantly, how to fix it without risking your data.
Why Does a Drive Become RAW?
A drive might appear as RAW in the following situations:
File system corruption due to improper ejection, power failure, or malware.
Bad sectors on the drive preventing the OS from reading metadata.
Partition table damage from misconfigured software or failed formatting.
Drive aging or physical damage that causes hardware-level failures.
When Windows can’t detect the file system, it treats the drive as unformatted — RAW — and disables tools like chkdsk.
Why CHKDSK Doesn’t Work on RAW Drives
CHKDSK depends on a known file system to scan and fix errors. Since RAW drives don’t have a readable file system, CHKDSK cannot interpret their structure. Running it on a RAW drive will typically return this message:
“The type of the file system is RAW. CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives.”
This prevents you from using conventional repair tools, and attempting to force a fix may result in permanent data loss if not done carefully.
Safe Ways to Fix a RAW Drive
1. Recover Your Data First
Before doing anything else, recover the data from the RAW drive using specialized software. Some popular recovery tools include:
These tools scan the RAW sectors of your drive and try to rebuild files without depending on the file system.
2. Use Disk Management to Check Drive Status
Open Disk Management by right-clicking the Start menu and choosing Disk Management. If the drive shows up as RAW, confirm whether it has a drive letter and appears healthy aside from the file system issue.
3. Format the Drive After Data Recovery
Once you’ve safely backed up your files:
Right-click the RAW drive in Disk Management.
Select Format.
Choose a file system like NTFS or exFAT.
Let Windows reinitialize the drive.
Formatting will erase the current data — that’s why recovery comes first.
Final Thoughts
When faced with a RAW drive, resist the urge to format immediately if you still need the data. CHKDSK won’t work in this case, but recovery software often can. Only after successful recovery should you format the drive to restore functionality. To avoid future RAW drive issues, always eject drives safely, use surge protectors, and back up data regularly.
If the drive continues to become RAW or shows signs of physical damage, it may be time to replace the device.