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Hi Zling,
Welcome to Microsoft Windows Forum.
You may convert RAW External hard drive file format to NTFS file format . Windows 7 doesn’t read the files until it is formatted.
Hard disks , which are the primary storage devices on your computer, need to be formatted before you can use them. Formatting a disk means configuring the disk with a file system so that Windows can store information on the disk. Hard disks in new computers running Windows are already formatted. If you purchase an additional hard disk to expand the storage of your computer, you might need to format it.
For more information on formatting hard disk and drive, you may visit the links mentioned below:
Formatting disks and drives
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Formatting-disks-and-drives
Create and format a hard disk partition
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/Create-and-format-a-hard-disk-partition
Note:The above mentioned links talks about Windows Vista but it applies to Windows 7 as well.
Hope this information is helpful.
Regards,
Sujan – Microsoft Support
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I have put the hard drive onto a XP and Vista machine and can read the hard drive but not with Windows 7So you can read if you boot into XP but not Windows 7? If there is important information on the disk DO NOT format it as you will lose all the information. I would suggest going to Disk Management (go to the Start Orb, in the Start Search box type Disk Management) and see if the volume show up. If it does right click on it and select "Change Drive Letter" and assign a drive letter.
If it works on XP/Vista, it should work on Win7 without needing a format.I've got a Western Digital Passport 500GB.
i know this is a windows fourm but I'm trying to help and this method worked for me before.
if you have another external HDD or enough space on your main drive C: to copy all of the files in your slave drive you could easily repair it for free and without installing another OS.
first download a linux liveCD (ubuntu is your best bet, download the desktop edition it is the liveCD) and boot from it... it doesn't install but loads into ram without using the HDD..
from there plug in the external HDD or storage media and copy all data from the RAW drive to your just plugged in NTFS or FAT Drive (they appear on the desktop when plugged in).
after your done (the time it takes depends on how much you copied) go to the top menu in System>Administration>Gparted.
go to your slave drive, easily distinguishable if the size differs from your main but if not look for one that isn't formatted as NTFS (NTFS or FAT drives are marked with green boarders) and try to make sure it is the correct drive...
right click on the "RAW" fs and look for the Format to option and select Ntfs or Fat and make sure to label it (name it). click the check-mark and wait for it to format.
once its done, copy all the data from your storage medium back onto the drive and your set!
the exit is on the top right of the screen... remove the disk when prompted and reboot.
easy solution and i hope no one here bashes me for suggesting this because all I'm trying to do here is help people with a problem i have solved years ago.
thank you all for listening...
i know this is a windows fourm but I'm trying to help and this method worked for me before.
if you have another external HDD or enough space on your main drive C: to copy all of the files in your slave drive you could easily repair it for free and without installing another OS.
first download a linux liveCD (ubuntu is your best bet, download the desktop edition it is the liveCD) and boot from it... it doesn't install but loads into ram without using the HDD..
from there plug in the external HDD or storage media and copy all data from the RAW drive to your just plugged in NTFS or FAT Drive (they appear on the desktop when plugged in).
after your done (the time it takes depends on how much you copied) go to the top menu in System>Administration>Gparted.
go to your slave drive, easily distinguishable if the size differs from your main but if not look for one that isn't formatted as NTFS (NTFS or FAT drives are marked with green boarders) and try to make sure it is the correct drive...
right click on the "RAW" fs and look for the Format to option and select Ntfs or Fat and make sure to label it (name it). click the check-mark and wait for it to format.
once its done, copy all the data from your storage medium back onto the drive and your set!
the exit is on the top right of the screen... remove the disk when prompted and reboot.
easy solution and i hope no one here bashes me for suggesting this because all I'm trying to do here is help people with a problem i have solved years ago.
thank you all for listening...
My old XP system crashed and it had a second drive NTFS, where I stored all my data and tried to use the drive using SATA dock on the laptop which runs Win7, but this drive is not accessible in Win7 eventhough I could assign a drive letter, because the drive
is shown as RAW. I struggled for more than couple of weeks to recover my data, by using many recovery menthods mentioned in many blogs on the internet, but could go nowhere. Finallly as per the above suggestion I tried Ubuntu linux liveCD without installing
it and it worked like magic wand. Could read and copy all the important data straight away without any hassle. I like windows, but not sure why such a simple thing could not be addressed in latest Windows7.
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