# Canon SD card becomes RAW!



## Elaine1736 (Sep 29, 2013)

Hi! I think I have got a really serous problem of my Canon camera SD card. It was working just fine all them time. But, yesterday, as I tried to upload my shots as usual, an error message always popped out and asked me to format it at first. What a shock! I had not uploaded my shots yet and cannot format it directly. I also checked the properties. Its previous NTFS file system was changed into RAW. Is that the problem? Do you know how to resolve this RAW SD card problem and get back my shots without formatting? 
Thank you in advance!


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## cgipson1 (Sep 29, 2013)

You might be out of luck.. but try these below.... (and I don't think Canon uses NTFS... that is a windows file system. I believe Canon uses the standard Fat, Fat32 or ExFat! If your card said it had an NTFS format, then somehow if got formatted on your PC, and your camera won't be able to read it.)

Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download

SD Card Data Recovery: How to Recover Files from SD Card

Digital image recovery - ZAR usage demo


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## KmH (Oct 1, 2013)

When did Canon start making and selling phones that have cameras in them?


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## Scan01422vian (Oct 7, 2013)

What have you done to this SD card last time? 

In fact, in my personal experiences, the RAW SD card problems are often caused by many reasons, such as the improper operations, virus infections and even card problems, etc. But, in most cases, it can be easily fixed by re-formatting.

So, you also can try to format it to fix its RAW problems.

Of course, since there are many shots here on this SD card, you&#8217;d better firstly try to retrieve all your shots back off from this SD card with a RAW memory card data recovery program before the reformatting process. 

As I know, there are many similar card data recovery programs that can help you retrieve your inaccessible data off from this RAW hard drive and restore your RAW file system back into previous NTFS file system latter. 

But not all of them can work as efficiently as you hope. So, if you cannot make your own decision, you can try to use some SD card data recovery freeware at firstly, which often work much more efficiently than some paid ones, such as 4Card Recovery, TestDisk, Recuva and iCare Data Recovery Free, etc.  

*Note*: 
  Do not forget to format this SD card after the data recovery process and see whether the RAW problem can be completely fixed. 
  Next time, I hope you can be more careful about your important data and always back up everything important.


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## Elaine1736 (Oct 8, 2013)

Thank you for your guys&#8217; answers! 
After reading all of them, I know that a data recovery program can be a good way to go on. So, I am trying your mentioned data recovery programs.
I will inform you the results as soon as possible! 
Thank you!!!!


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## Elaine1736 (Oct 9, 2013)

Scan01422vian said:


> What have you done to this SD card last time?
> 
> In fact, in my personal experiences, the RAW SD card problems are often caused by many reasons, such as the improper operations, virus infections and even card problems, etc. But, in most cases, it can be easily fixed by re-formatting.
> 
> ...



  Thank you for your detailed steps! Now, I have restored all my wanted data back with the help of your recommended data recovery freeware and the RAW problem is also fixed by the reformatting process. 
  Thanks a lot! 
  I really come to the right place!


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## thomas30 (Apr 3, 2014)

You can recover your lost raw photos with the help of a photo recovery software. First connect your SD card to your computer through Card reader. Download a photo recovery software from here


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