- How To Reformat External Hard Drive
- How To Reformat An External Hard Drive Without Losing Your ..
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Formatting allows you to overwrite all the information on the hard drive, resetting the file structure and how the drive interacts with the operating system. It can also be used to prep a hard. Format external hard drive with multiple partitions using disk management: Removing partitions. Solutions to 'external hard drive won't format' issue. Fortunately, in this article, we will provide you two effective ways to solve the Seagate, WD or other brands external hard drive not formatting problem. Force format external hard drive with CMD.
'How do I reformat a multi-partition external hard drive in Windows 10? I have an existing HD for backup. Currently, it has 3 partitions. Can someone please advise how to format the external hard drive with multiple partitions into a single NTFS partition?'
Two Ways to Format External Hard Drive with Multiple Partitions
Most times, Windows desktop or laptop computer users tend to partition a hard drive into many volumes on purpose. With several independent disk partitions, users can easily and clearly manage various kinds of data in classification. How to format kingston usb. However, not all people are used to build many chunks on a hard disk. There is a group of users asking our help to combine partitions into one, while the other group even wants to format an external hard drive with multiple partitions, leaving only one partition on the disk for special use.
No matter how many times you've tried to format an entire disk for once in Windows, you'll certainly fail. The inbuilt Windows programs, including Windows Explorer and Windows Disk Management, only allow users to format a single partition to an available file system. In order to format a multi-partition external hard drive, you'll need further hard work. In general, there are two accesses to achieve their goal.
- #1. Delete all existing partitions and create a new simple volume (Erase data)
- #2. Merge all partitions in the external hard drive into one (Keep data)
For your notice, both are attainable options to format all partitions on an external hard drive. As for capable tools that you can utilize, Windows Disk Management can do #1 well in deleting partitions and creating a new one. Whereas the third-party partition manager - EaseUS Partition Master can do both #1 and #2, actually in a more efficient way.
#1. Format External Hard Drive with Multiple Partitions Using Disk Management
If you prefer adopting an inbuilt program, at the same time, with no vital data to be protected, Windows Disk Management can help you format the external hard drive by deleting each partition as well as data first, and then let you create a new one on the unallocated space.
Step 1. Connect the external hard drive to a Windows PC.
Step 2. Press 'Windows+R' to open Run, type diskmgmt.msc in the empty box and tap 'OK' to open disk management tool.
Step 3. Locate the external hard disk, right-click on every partition and click 'Delete Volume'.
Step 4. Once you have deleted all partitions, right-click the external drive again and select 'New Simple Volume'. Follow the instruction to finish the process.
As you can see, this manner will erase all your data from the external hard drive. So, you'd better not try this way if you have a large number of important data to be saved. And as an alternative, we recommend you to try a third-party partition software to merge multiple partitions into a single partition.
#2. Format External Hard Drive with Multiple Partitions Using EaseUS Format Tool
EaseUS Partition Master is a comprehensive disk & partition magic tool that can fully replace the Windows Disk Management in basic functions, including format a disk partition, delete a partition, create a new partition and everything you can find in the Windows program. That is to say, when you need to format an external hard drive with multiple partitions, you can also use EaseUS Partition Master to make the job done in the same way!
Option 1. Delete All Partitions and Create A New Partition
One exciting experience with EaseUS software is that you don't have to necessarily repeat the deletion process on every partition in Disk Management because there is a feature called 'Delete All', which allows you to remove all the existing 2 or 3 or more partitions on a hard drive or external hard disk for one time!
To format all partitions on the external hard drive with EaseUS Partition Master, only two steps are required:
Step 1.Delete all partitions on the external hard drive in one click.
Step 2.Create a new partition of NTFS, FAT32, etc.
Option 2. Merge Partitions in External Hard Disk into One
As you've learned, EaseUS partition magic software is an excellent tool that works well to partition an external hard drive. It can help you reformat multi-partition external hard drive into one partition by combining partitions. What's the most important, no data loss problem will occur during the process!
Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition on your external hard drive/USB/SD card which you want to format and choose the 'Format' option.
Step 2. Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click 'OK'.
Step 3. In the Warning window, click 'OK' to continue.
Step 4. Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting your external hard drive/USB/SD card.
One time 'Merge' will enable to combine two partitions into one, if you have three or more partitions on the external disk, continue following the same guide to merge all the partitions into a final one.
Whenever an external hard drive becomes Raw, it becomes unable for you to access your files that are stored in it. Fixing the RAW external hard drive by some of the methods may require formatting, which creates a problem of losing saved files. Therefore, it becomes essential to rectify this RAW external hard drive without formatting or losing any of the data.
Today, you will learn 4 ways that can fix RAW external hard drive without formatting, what exactly causes an external hard drive to become RAW, and more importantly, a perfect method of how to recover files from an external hard drive without formatting.
Method 1. Confirm the Issue by Simple Checks
Method 2. Change the Drive Letter
Method 3. Edit the User Permission of the Drive
Method 4. Run Chkdsk Command
Part 1. What Causes an External Hard Drive to Become RAW?
Your external hard drive may become RAW at any time that does not allow you to access the stored files and folders. Now, the question is, what exactly causes this problem? There are multiple reasons due to which an external hard drive becomes RAW. Still, most importantly, the problem usually arises when the operating system is unable to recognize a file system and thus can't mount it. You may generally face any of the two situations:
One partition is regarded as RAW
The Whole Disk gets the uninitialized or RAW status
The multiple reasons that can cause an external hard drive to become RAW are as follows:
The file system is not supported by the operating system
The file system structure has been damaged
A partition is a part of a spanned volume or RAID
Access to the partition/file system/disk/drive is prohibited in security settings
Disk or volume formatted wrongly or not formatted
Virus or malware attack
Bad blocks in large numbers and reading errors found
These are some common reasons that can lead to such situations. If you face the same issue, there's no need to worry about it as there are multiple workable ways that will surely help you know how to fix RAW external hard drive without formatting.
2How to Fix RAW External Hard Drive without Formatting?
If your hard drive has become RAW, and you have essential data stored in it, it is necessary to find a solution that can fix the RAW external hard drive without formatting. Have a look at each one of them in detail and choose the one you find the easiest.
How To Reformat External Hard Drive
Method 1. Confirm the Issue by Simple Checks
The simple check methods for confirming the issues are as follows:
Use Another USB Port: Switch the USB port into which your external hard drive is plugged into. Sometimes some of the specific USB ports cause an issue; therefore, plugging your external hard drive into another USB port will help you find whether the problem was with the USB port or the hard drive itself.
How do i transfer photos from my phone to computer. Uninstall and Reconnect the External Hard Drive: If your external hard drive is a problem-free, then it will work properly after reconnecting; otherwise, not.
Use Another Computer: Try your external hard device on another computer because your computer can be a problem. Try to use your external hard drive into a different computer system to check whether the same issue occurs with this or not. If the issue is faced with another computer as well, then it will be clear that the problem is with the hard drive.
Method 2. Change the Drive Letter
Changing the drive letter will allow you to fix the RAW external hard drive without formatting. For changing the drive letter, the Disk Management tool in Windows is perfectly fine as it helps complete the task with ease. For this:
Step 1: Open disk management tool in Windows.
Step 2: From the list, locate the drive you want to change the drive letter of.
Step 3: Right-click the drive, select the option 'Change Drive Letter and Paths', and click on the Change button.
Step 4: From the 'Assign the Following Drive Letter' drop-down box, choose the drive letter you want to assign to the storage device and click the OK button.
Step 5: A popup will come that will read like, 'Some programs that rely on drive letters might not run correctly. Do you want to continue?' Choose the 'Yes' option.
Method 3. Edit the User Permission of the Drive
Another method for fixing RAW external hard drive without formatting is by editing the user of the drive. To do this, follow the below-mentioned steps:
Step 1: Right-click the folder you want to modify the access permission and select 'Properties'.
Step 2: Click the 'Edit' button from the security tab.
Step 3: Choose the current user and click on the 'Edit' button to set the access permissions. Tick the access rights you need and click the 'OK' button to apply the changes.
Method 4. Run Chkdsk Command
Last but least, running the Chkdsk command is the final method of fixing the external hard drive without formatting. Chkdsk command is a way to detect and correct the error in your driver. With the function of correction, you should know that it might damage the existing data. For running a Chkdsk command, follow the below-mentioned steps:
Step 1: Press Win + R and type CMD. You will see Command Prompt. Click on Run as Administrator.
Step 2: Type chkdsk x: /f and press the Enter key. Here 'x' means the letter of RAW partition on an external hard drive. So, replace 'x' with the right drive letter.
Step 3: Wait for the entire process to get completed.
Methods above are all the ways you can fix the RAW external hard drive without formatting. If all things you have done and it is still in RAW format, you might consider formatting your hard drive to make it back to normal. Before that, you still have chances to recover all the files in it.
3Part 3: How to Fix RAW External Hard Drive by Formatting without Losing Data?
If you are in urgency, and you need the files in this hard drive immediately, you should directly recover the files rather than trying all the methods one by one. This is how you can fix the external hard drive without losing data in the most efficiently way.
Phase 1. Recover Files from RAW External Hard Drive
Recovering files from RAW external hard drive seems challenging, but it's not that tough. Since the data can be easily overwritten, and the risk of losing data increase by time, recover files directly from the RAW external hard drive will be the fastest solution thus it is also the best solution to fix the problem.
AnyRecover is a recovery tool that helps you recover all your files and data from the RAW drive into your PC. It is designed and built for the primary purpose of data recovery for storage mediums so it stands out among all its competitors.
You can recover more than 1000 kinds of inaccessible, lost, deleted, or even formatted data, including docs, videos, images, photos and etc. Unfamiliar file formats such as xlsm, xlsb, docm, and dotm can also be recovered.
It offers unlimited free scans and preview, so you are able to confirm the files before recovery.
The way to use this tool is pretty easy and straightforward.
Have a look at the step by step guide below:
Step 1: Download AnyRecover software on your PC and launch it. After launching, under the 'External Removable Devices' tab, choose the external device that you want to recover data from.
Step 2: Click on the 'Start' button to initiate an all-round scan on the device you have selected. Once the scanning is completed, all your lost files and data will be listed out correctly.
Step 3: To preview any of the files, you can double click on it. Once you are sure of what you want to recover, click on the 'Recover' button.
Phase 2. Format RAW HDD to HTFS/FAT32
Once you are done with recovering all your files and data from the RAW external hard drive, you can now format the external hard drive from here.
There are 3 formats you can choose to convert the RAW drive to: NTFS, FAT32 and exFAT. Normally, you will be suggested to convert to the NTFS format which is the default option for Windows user. The NTFS format allows users to store larger file size (16TB) than the FAT32 format which only allows 4GB. The exFAT format allows even larger file size and partition size. However, exFAT and NTFS can only be used on Windows computer (exFAT for Windows 7 and later, NTFS for Windows XP and later), while the FAT32 format can be used on all systems including Windows and Mac.
You can easily format the RAW external hard drive with two methods:
Via CMD
Step 1: Connect the RAW external hard drive to your PC. Click Start button and search 'commond', then right-click one it and afterward press 'Run As Administrator'.
How To Reformat An External Hard Drive Without Losing Your ..
Step 2: Type in 'Diskpart' and then press Enter.
Step 3: Type 'G: /FS :NTFS' and press the Enter key. (G is going to be the drive letter of your RAW storage device; Change the NTFS to FAT32 or exFAT as you like).
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Via File Explorer
Step 1: Open the Window Explorer,and select the My Computer/This PC section in the sidebar, then locate your drive. Right-click on your drive and select 'Format'.
Step 2: Under the File System, select the format you want to use for the driver.
Step 3: Under the Volume Label, give your drive a name and then check out the Quick Format box.
Step 4: Select Start to initiate the format process. The system will notify you when the process is done, and in a few minutes, your external drive will be formatted.
FAQ: What Does RAW Drive Mean?
A RAW drive is a state of the hard drive or any other storage device with no known windows file system. As no file system exists on the hard drive, there can be no folders or files on the drive, and it cannot be used further to store more data until fixed. Many reasons can cause this problem. If you want to access the stored files and folders, get it fixed with any of the methods mentioned above.
The RAW file system cannot be recognized and supported by the Windows operating system. Therefore, this does not allow you to access or add any data within. If you want to make the RAW portion useable again, it is essential to format it to a proper file system.
That's it, we have covered all methods you can try to fix the RAW external hard drive. If you have any other questions or ideas about this, leave a comment.
