Why Does Windows Think Your USB Drive Is RAW? Explained
📚 In this article, I’ll explain why Windows suddenly reads your USB drive as RAW and share practical tips to safely recover, repair or formatting the RAW USB. 🎯 Key Takeaways of Today’s Post A RAW USB drive means Windows cannot recognize the file system structure, but the stored data may still exist on the device. RAW is not a file system format; it is Windows' way of indicating that the existing file system metadata cannot be properly interpreted. Formatting a RAW USB drive immediately may overwrite important file system information and reduce the chance of successful data recovery. Common causes of RAW USB drives include improper removal, file system corruption, interrupted operations, bad sectors, failing flash memory, and counterfeit storage devices. A USB drive showing RAW should be diagnosed before repair because software corruption and hardware failure require different solutions. Recovering important files before...