Member Avatar for beep

For unknows reasons, other than the fact that I'm trying to intall Windows 8 beta on a separate partion (and the fact that, well, I AM dealing with Windows <sigh>. I kept ending up with a dead 8GB thumb drive that was dead because Windows, in its infinite wisdom caused the file system to not exist, i.e. become RAW. After LOTS of searching, I finally found a proceedure (which seems about as obscure as you can get) for using the command line to make even a screwed up thumb drive such as mine bootable. In particular, this method will convert the thing from RAW to NTFS if nothing else. So should you need it, check this out.

http://www.intowindows.com/bootable-usb/

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by sheikhali449

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Good find, — that kind of command-line repair can make a messed-up USB bootable and restore an NTFS volume, but some important caveats for clarity (as asked): when Windows shows a drive as RAW it simply means the OS cannot recognize a valid filesystem (Explorer may ask you to format and CHKDSK will refuse to run). Avoid automatic “format now” prompts if you care about the files. (ufsexplorer.com)

If the files matter, stop using the stick and take a sector-level image first. A raw image preserves the original media so you can attempt recovery without risking further writes. On Linux a typical approach is GNU ddrescue; on Windows use an imaging tool that can produce a raw image. Work from the image, not the original device. (gnu.org)

Try non-destructive repair/recovery on the image: TestDisk can often rebuild a damaged partition table or NTFS boot sector, and PhotoRec (shipped with TestDisk) can carve files if structural repair fails. Run these tools against the image, inspect results carefully, and only write changes when you’re confident. (cgsecurity.org)

If the data is expendable, the practical fix is to reinitialize and reformat the stick (Disk Management or diskpart), or recreate a bootable installer using a tool like Rufus instead of manual steps. Example diskpart sequence (runs as Administrator) is below — it erases everything, so use only when data is not needed:

diskpart
list disk
select disk N   (replace N with the USB disk number)
clean
create partition primary
format fs=ntfs quick label=USB
assign
exit

When a drive resists formatting or shows hardware errors, assume physical failure and consider professional recovery or replacement. (learn.microsoft.com)

Useful references: UFSexplorer RAW guide, GNU ddrescue, TestDisk/PhotoRec docs, DiskPart reference, Rufus.

Member Avatar for sheikhali449

try to be more precise in your question

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