This wikiHow teaches you how to recover RAW data from a hard drive on a Windows or Mac computer. If a hard drive shows files as RAW it means that the computer cannot read them correctly, so the drive may have been corrupted. Normally, the only way to fix it is to completely erase and reformat the hard drive, but you can try to recover some of the files with data recovery software first. If the files or the hard drive are important or irreplaceable, take the hard drive to a professional data service immediately.
Steps
Step 1. Take the hard drive to a professional recovery service
Before doing anything with the hard drive, if the data on it is important or irreplaceable, it is best to stop using it immediately and take it to a professional data recovery service. Data recovery is extremely difficult and is best left to the professionals. Do a Google search for data recovery services near you, or submit the drive to various online data recovery companies.
Make sure to do your research to make sure the company you use is rated and has good reviews
Step 2. Go to https://www.easeus.com/data-recovery-software in a web browser
You can use any browser on your computer to go to the EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard download page.
Step 3. Select the operating system
If you're using a PC, click the "For Windows" tab at the top of the page, if you're using a Mac, click the "For Mac" tab.
Step 4. Click Download
The blue "Download" button will download the free version of Data Recovery Wizard.
The free version will allow you to recover up to 2 GB of data, if you need to recover more than 2 GB, you will have to upgrade to the paid Pro version. Better to use the free version first to see if the files can be recovered before buying anything
Step 5. Install Data Recovery Wizard
After the installation file finishes downloading, double-click it to begin installing it. Follow the prompts in the wizard to install the Data Recovery Wizard.
On some versions of macOS, you may need to allow the installation first and then enter the Administrator password
Step 6. Open the Data Recovery Wizard
It's the blue app with the white silhouette of a medical bag. On Windows, it is located in the applications section of the Start menu, and on Mac, it is located in the Applications folder.
Step 7. Select the hard drive with the RAW files
Once the Data Recovery Wizard runs, you will see a list of all drives. Select the drive with flat files from which you want to recover data. Data Recovery Wizard can recover data from any hard drive, disk partition, external hard drive, flash memory, or SD card.
Step 8. Click Scan
It's the orange button at the bottom of the app. First, a quick scan will be done, followed by a deep scan to locate even more files.
Depending on the size of the drive, this process can take several hours, even a full day
Step 9. Select the files you want to recover
Click the check box for each file that you want to recover from the drive. You can preview the data found by clicking on the tabs at the top of the application.
Step 10. Click Recover
It's the orange button in the lower-right corner of the app. This will open a file explorer window.
Step 11. Select a secure folder and click Ok
Use the file explorer window to select a location to save the recovered data. Make sure the folder you select is in a safe and undamaged place on your hard drive.