D:\ not accessible. The disk structure is corrupted and unreadable

Sharpeye 0 Reputation points
2026-04-27T14:43:15.7566667+00:00

I have an old laptop that dies a long time ago but the issue was a power thing. I recently took the drive out of this laptop and used it in a caddy on my new laptop and it all worked perfectly and I was looking forward to recovering all the work I had on this as it is the laptop I was using at Uni

My new laptop is set to hibenate when closing the lid and so that was what I did.

When I got back to my laptop 2 days later to have a look through the data on this drive, I opened the screen to see the laptop had a message on screen saying it couldnt boot. It shouldnt have been trying to boot as it should have been asleep but now I think it must have been sat there for 2 days.

The drive is now unaccesible and is showing as RAW. I did download Recuva and it does seem to have pulled a load of files that are on the drive so I suspect the info is still there on the disk.

It has pulled around 400 files per folder and created 67 folders and the only thing I've been able to open are a few excel worksheets and some jpg files from my coursework but these appear to be thumbnail size.

Im wondering if this is possibly all Im going to be able to get back using Recuva and if there me another way to get access to this drive again.

Many thanks

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Recovery and backup
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  1. Hendrix-V 19,025 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-04-28T00:11:33.5133333+00:00

    Hi Sharpeye,

    Thanks for sharing the details.

    Since the drive is now showing as RAW and only partial files are being found, the safest next step is to focus on recovering the data first rather than trying to repair the drive immediately. Microsoft’s storage guidance recommends protecting or recovering important data before making repair changes, and Disk Management warns that formatting will remove existing data.

    Here are a few recommended next steps that you can consider:

    1, Do not format the drive yet - formatting would make the drive usable again, but it would also erase the current contents.

    2, Recover any important files to a different healthy drive.

    • If a recovery tool is still finding files, that suggests some data may still be readable even though Windows cannot mount the file system normally.
    • If the files are important, consider creating a full disk image or using a professional recovery service before making further changes.

    3, Check the drive status in Disk Management before deciding whether to reuse it.

    • Confirm whether the disk appears as RAW, Offline, or otherwise unhealthy.
    • If Windows shows a critical storage warning or reliability issue, it is better to replace the drive or caddy after recovery.

    4, Only after your files are safe, reinitialize or format the drive if needed - this is the appropriate final step if you want to test whether the drive can still be reused.

    I hope this helps point you in the right direction. If the recovered files are especially important and the drive continues to behave unpredictably, it may be best to avoid further repair attempts and work from a clone or recovery copy instead.

    Let me know if you need further assistance, feel free to ask me by clicking "Add Comment" or "Add Answer" if you cannot add comment so your response will be visible. Thanks for your effort.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-04-27T14:43:47.1766667+00:00

    The behavior matches a known data-corruption scenario when a storage device is used on a PC that is then put into hibernate and later resumed while the device’s contents have changed. In such cases, the disk can become unreadable or appear as RAW, and files may be partially recoverable or corrupted.

    Key points from the documented behavior:

    1. Cause of corruption
    • If a storage device is connected when the computer enters hibernate, then removed and attached to another system (or otherwise modified) and later reattached while the original system resumes, data corruption or inconsistencies can occur.
    • The guidance explicitly warns that when contents of a storage device change between hibernate and resume, corruption is a likely outcome.
    1. Preventing this in the future
    • Before removing a storage device from a system that may hibernate, use the Safely Remove Hardware mechanism in the Windows notification area.
      • Use the Safely Remove Hardware icon in the notification area (or click Show hidden icons if it is not visible).
      • Select the device and wait for Windows to indicate it is safe to remove.
      • Alternatively, in Computer (This PC), right-click the device and select Eject.
    • Avoid attaching the same storage device to another computer and then reattaching it to the hibernated computer before it has fully resumed.
    1. About recovery
    • When the disk structure is corrupted and shows as RAW, file recovery tools may only be able to retrieve some files, and many may be incomplete or damaged.
    • The documentation does not provide a guaranteed method to fully restore such a RAW disk to its original state; it focuses on prevention and safe removal to avoid corruption.
    • Given that some files are already partially recovered, it is possible that only a subset of data is still intact.

    Because the corruption has already occurred, the realistic expectation is that only some files may be recoverable with recovery tools. The documentation emphasizes prevention (safe removal and not reusing the device between hibernate and resume) rather than a complete post-corruption repair path.

    References:

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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