Recovering from a RAW RAID Disk Format on Windows 11: Is It Possible?

Experiencing sudden system failures can be alarming, especially when valuable data is at stake. Recently, I encountered a challenging situation when my Windows 11 computer abruptly shut down, which also affected my external Thunderbolt RAID 5 storage enclosure. Following the unexpected shutdown, I found that the RAID disk was no longer accessible, presenting me with a frustrating error message: “disk structure corrupted or unreadable.” To complicate matters further, the disk had shifted from a recognizable RAID 5 – NTFS format to an unreadable RAID 5 – RAW format.

After navigating out of the Windows Recovery environment, I discovered that the affected disk was visible in both File Explorer and Disk Management, yet I was unable to access the data it contained. Regrettably, standard Windows tools such as CHKDSK yielded no results, as they cannot function on a disk formatted as RAW.

Given that my enclosure is an OWC ThunderBay, I reached out to OWC’s technical support for assistance. However, the support team was limited in their ability to assist with non-MacOS systems. They recommended exploring third-party recovery Software tailored for Windows environments. A few prominent options, including EaseUS and Stellar, came highly recommended; however, I remain cautious about their efficacy in dealing with a RAW format disk.

I find myself seeking advice from the community: does anyone have experience with Data Recovery in such scenarios? Furthermore, I would appreciate any recommendations for reliable Software or methods. An additional consideration I’m contemplating is whether formatting the disk back to NTFS first, followed by utilizing a RAID recovery tool, would be a viable approach—would this lead to successful Data Recovery, or might it exacerbate the situation?

If you’ve faced similar challenges or have insights to share, I welcome your thoughts and suggestions. Recovery may seem daunting in this situation, but with the right knowledge and tools, hope remains.