(Fixed) Convert Is Not Available for RAW Drives

What Does Convert Is Not Available for RAW Drives Mean?

“Convert” is a Windows command to change the file system from FAT32 to NTFS. So if you use this command, but receive the “Convert is not available for RAW drives” error, it means your hard drive becomes RAW.

When a drive turns to RAW, it becomes inaccessible. So Windows can’t access, read or write data on it. You need to change its file system to FAT32 in Disk Management and then are able to use this command.

Warning: Similarly, if you use this command to convert exFAT to NTFS or from NTFS to FAT32, you may receive the “Convert is not available for NTFS drives.” error.

About RAW File System

RAW file system, like NTFS, or FAT32, is a file system in Windows PC, but it is not recognized and can’t use to store data. You may encounter the following scenarios indicating this.

• You cannot access this drive and its file system turns to RAW in Disk Management.
• Drive D:\ not accessible. The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.
• The parameter is incorrect.
• You need to format the disk before you can use it.
• CMD does not work and receive errors “Convert is not available for RAW drives.”, or “The type of the file system is RAW. CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives.”.

Actually, your drive becomes RAW drive because its file system is corrupted or damaged. This may be due to unsafe removal, sudden power failure, damaged partition MFT, bad sectors, etc. To resolve this issue, you need to format this drive to a recognized file system. However, this process will delete all the data on the disk. This is what you don’t want. To convert RAW drive to NTFS without losing data, please recover data from RAW drive with reliable data recovery software first.

Get Data Back Before Converting RAW File System

To get your data on the RAW drive back, you could consider using reliable Windows data recovery software - MyRecover. It helps to recover data from a RAW drive whether it’s an internal disk, external disk, USB drive, SD card, etc in Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, etc and Windows Server.

• Recover more than 200+ file types, such as recover lost Word documents, Excel files, PPT, pictures, videos, compressed files, etc.
• Support two advanced scanning methods - Quick Scan and Deep Scan. It helps to find all the deleted or lost data on RAW drive.
• Filter specific files on RAW drive quickly with Type, Date Modified & Size and recover them as soon as they are found.
• Recover data from RAW drive with a high success rate and fast speed, keeping its original file name, format, quality, and path.

Step 1. Launch Windows data recovery software- MyRecover. Hover the mouse over the RAW drive saved deleted files before, and click Scan.

Note: You can identify the RAW disk through drive letter or capacity.

Step 2. The software will run Quick Scan & Deep Scan automatically and find all the deleted or lost data on RAW drive. Once any of files are found, it will display in the following window. You can then preview or select them to recover immediately.

Step 3. Select all the data on a RAW drive and click Recover XX files.

Notes:

• MyRecover will display the number of files to be recovered and their entire size. You can free recover files up to 500MB. To recover unlimited files, please upgrade MyRecover.
• Select a new location to store files on the RAW drive. Retrieving files to original location may overwrite the space of deleted data, resulting in data recovery failure.
• Except for Windows 10 or 11, it is still able to recover deleted files from Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, etc.

Besides, you still can use this software to recover files from formatted hard drive, or other data loss scenarios due to virus attacks, system or disk failures, etc.

✍ How to recover specific files on a RAW drive:

In MyRecover, you could directly type its file name in the Search for files or folders box. Or use the Filter feature. You need to select file type, date modified or size. To make it easier, type a subdivision file type (eg: DOCX) in the search box.

Fix the Convert Is Not Available for RAW Drives Error

As mentioned above, you can choose to convert RAW to FAT32 in Disk Management and then use the convert command. In fact, there is no need to do this at all, you can use the format command to convert directly. Here I’ll show you 3 available methods.

#1: Format RAW Disk to NTFS in File Explorer

Step 1. Open This PC. Right-click the RAW partition and select Format.

Step 2. Select the NTFS file system and click Start.

Notes:

• The quick format option deletes only the file system paths to your data on the RAW drive. If you uncheck it, it will overwrite data on this disk with zero.
• You can also select any recognized file system based on your preferences, such as FAT32, FAT16, exFAT, etc.

Step 3. Click Yes in the prompt to start the formatting process.

#2: Convert RAW Drive to NTFS with Disk Management

Step 1. Right-click on the Windows icon and choose Disk Management. Then, find the drive labeled with RAW.

Step 2. Right-click the RAW drive and select Format.

Step 3. In the Format window, select file system- NTFS and click OK. You can also select FAT32, FAT16, exFAT, etc.

Step 2. Click OK again when you see a formatting warning.

#3: Change RAW File System to NTFS using DiskPart

Step 1. Press Win + R and type diskpart in the Run window. Then, click OK to open it.

Step 2. Enter the following commands and press Enter after each line.

• list disk
• select M (M is the disk number of the RAW drive.)
• clean (The clean command will delete all the data on the RAW drive.)
• create partition primary
• format fs=ntfs quick (or format fs=fat32 quick)
• exit

Notes:

• If your RAW disk is write-protected, you could add the “attributes disk clear readonly” command to remove it before using the “clean” command.
• If your RAW drive is just a partition on a disk, select the partition and format it to a recognized file system.

Convert Is Not Available for Raw Drives FAQs

✍ How do I convert a raw drive?

The convert command works only for converting file system from FAT32 to NTFS. If you insists on using this command, you can choose to convert RAW file system to FAT32 in Disk Management first.

✍ What to do if CHKDSK is not available for RAW drives?

This error occurs when you use the CHKDSK command to repair a RAW drive. But this command only works for a recognized file system, such as NTFS, FAT32, exFAT, etc. Try the format command instead. Remember to recover data from it first.

✍ Can you recover RAW hard drive?

The answer is definite if you have a data recovery software. It’s able to recover data from RAW drive, whether it’s internal or external disk, USB, memory card, etc. As for reliable software, you could try MyRecover.

Concluding Words

If you receive the “Convert is not available for RAW drive” error, it indicates your drive becomes RAW and it’s inaccessible in File Explorer. You can choose to convert it to FAT32 in Disk Management first, or directly format this disk.

The format command seems to be easier, but it will delete all the data on the RAW drive. So if you want to convert RAW drive to NTFS without losing data, it’s suggested to recover data from RAW drive with a data recovery software like MyRecover. Hope it helps you.