The Volume Does Not Contain a Recognized File System - 4 fixes

Sometimes, you would receive alert message showing:

"D:\ is not accessible. The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted." (D: is the drive letter of the media that shows the error message)

This error message usually occurs on Windows computer, when you attempt to access an internal hard drive, external hard drive, memory card, USB flash drive or any other removable disk whose file system has changed to RAW.

Fix #1 - repair the volume with sfc /scannow4

Video - how to repair not recognized file system using cmd

Fix #2 - Repair damaged filesystem by check disk

Fix #3 - Repair damaged disk by cmd chkdsk /f/r/x

Fix #4 - Repair unknown filesystem raw drive

You may repair the damaged filesystem by the following ways

iCare Data Recovery Free is a data recovery tool that is able to work on any Windows operating system to help recover files from any inaccessible device when you get the error message saying the drive does not contain a recognized file system and becomes not accessible.

Recommend: RAW Drive>>

Symptoms When Volume Does Not Contain a Recognized File System

Below are some symptoms when any volume does not contain a recognized file system:

1. The volume does not contain a recognized file system

You would get error message saying " :\ is not accessible. The volume does not contain a recognized file system. Please make sure that all required file system drivers are loaded and that the volume is not corrupted."

2. Disk drive needs to be formatted error message

You may receive warning message saying "You need to format disk drive before you can use it. Do you want to format it now? Format disk? Cancel" when you try to access any media in Windows Explorer.

 

3. File system turns to RAW in Properties
The volume shows RAW file system when you check its Properties in Windows Explorer. RAW is a damaged file system that cannot be recognized by Windows OS, this is the reason why Windows pops up message reporting the file system of the volume is not recognized.

Recover Data from RAW Volume That Is Inaccessible

You are unable to access a RAW volume whose file system is not recognized by Windows. In order to avoid losing any data from the inaccessible volume, you can use iCare Data Recovery to retrieve lost files from RAW hard drive, external hard drive, memory card, USB flash drive, etc before fixing the error.

Step1. Run the software and select a recovery module.

Step2. Choose the RAW drive and wait the software to scan to search lost files.

Step3. Preview files and then save all data you need to another drive.

How to Fix Problem That Volume Does Not Contain Recognized Filesystem?

Since the causes for the problem are various, sometimes it would help fix the problem easily if you know the reasons.

Possible reasons for file system unrecognized problem

• Virus infection
• Hardware incompatibility issue
  
• Some important system files are corrupted or deleted by mistake
  
• File system conversion failure
  
• System reinstallation
  
• Required file system drivers are not loaded or not compatible with the drive
  
• The volume is corrupted / physically damaged or contains bad sectors
  

Some methods you can try to fix the unrecognized file system issue

1. You can run antivirus software to scan and erases all viruses from the volume
2. Replace the hardware that may be incompatible with the volume
3. Upgrade the file system drivers
4. Reinstall the operating system
5. Format the volume that shows RAW and has unrecognized file system

External Hard Drive Does Not Contain Recognized File System

External hard drive is one of the most common removable disks, which is widely used my different computer users. An external hard drive usually has large storage capacity and it is easy to carry, so people like to use external HDD for data storage and transferring. A portable hard drive usually has NTFS file system, in which situation Windows OS would recognize it normally and allows you to read or write data on it.

When an external HD turns to RAW file system, it would show as removable disk in Windows Explorer but PC says the external hard drive is not accessible and does not contain a recognized file system.

USB Flash Drive Not Accessible & Has Unrecognized File System

USB flash drive has smaller size and storage capacity than external hard drive. When a USB drive has unrecognized format error and becomes inaccessible, you can do following things in addition to all methods mentioned above:

1. Check if the USB flash drive is physically damaged. Data is unrecoverable and the only opportunity to fix a physically damaged flash drive is to send it to professional USB drive repair center to replace the damaged part of the drive.

2. Check the USB port of your computer or the interface of the thumb drive to see if it can work. Then, you can try to reinsert the flash drive again to the back USB port of your computer.

3. If the flash drive was formatted to exFAT32 file system, you should make sure install proper file system driver that can recognize exFAT32 file system.

4. You can repair USB flash drive with USB DISK PRODUCTION TOOL.

5. Format the USB drive on Windows computer after data recovery.

If USB drive is not recognized by Windows computer, please go to this page - Flash drive cannot be recognized>>

SD Memory Card Does Not Contain a Supported File System

Memory card can be SD card, micro SD card, mini SD card, SDHC, SDXC, XD card, CF card and memory stick, etc. Different memory cards can be used in various devices. When any memory card turns to RAW and becomes inaccessible, it may show "Memory card is blank or has unsupported filesystem" on your mobile phone. And it reports the card is not accessible or has unrecognized file system on your computer.

SD card has unrecognized file system

SD card usually has exFAT or FAT32 file system, which can be recognized by different mobile phones, digital cameras and computers. No device can recognize an SD card that has changed to RAW file system, so it would say SD card is blank or has unsupported file system.

==>> Related article: SD card is not recognized>>

XD card does not has recognized file system

XD card is mainly produced by FujiFilm and Olympus, so it is widely used in FujiFilm and Olympus digital cameras. It can also be recognized by Windows OS, but RAW XD card would be recognized as unrecognized device on digital camera or computer.

CF card is not accessible and contains unrecognized file system

CF card has a large size than other types of memory card, which is often used in digital cameras. The volume does not contain recognized file system problem would also occur on CF card.

The Volume Does Not Contain Recognized File System on Windows

In general, you usually get the message telling the volume does not contain a recognized file system on Windows OS like Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8 and 10.

Windows XP cannot recognize the file system of volume

If any drive has unrecognized file system on Windows XP, PC would show "The disk drive is not formatted do you want to format it now" when you try to open the drive.

Volume contains no recognized file system Windows 7

When you receive the message on Windows 7, it would ask you to format the volume if you want to open it. Usually, the message says "You need to format disk drive before you can use it."

Windows 8/10 reports the volume has not recognized file system
On Windows 8 or 8.1/10, it shows the same message that disk drive needs to be formatted when its file system becomes unrecognized.

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Last updated on Nov 28, 2023

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