Lenovo Legion computers are widely used in retail and business environments for their reliability and high performance. However, when a hard drive suddenly asks to be formatted, it usually indicates partition corruption, making essential business data inaccessible.
This case study details how we successfully recovered till transaction records from a Lenovo Legion hard drive that displayed the error: “You Need to Format This Drive Before You Can Use It.”
As Oxford Data Recovery, with 25 years of forensic data recovery experience, we used partition repair and file system reconstruction techniques to restore lost business data.
The Challenge: Lenovo Legion Hard Drive Asking to Be Formatted
A local shop owner contacted us after their Lenovo Legion hard drive failed, with the following issues:
- Windows displayed the message: “You need to format this drive before you can use it.”
- Till transaction records, sales history, and customer orders were inaccessible.
- The hard drive appeared in Disk Management but showed as RAW instead of NTFS.
- The owner feared losing all financial records required for tax filing.
Since formatting the drive would erase all data, an immediate professional recovery solution was required.
Diagnosis & Evaluation
When the Lenovo Legion hard drive arrived at our cleanroom facility, we conducted a full file system analysis. Our findings:
- Partition table corruption – The Master File Table (MFT) was damaged, preventing the operating system from reading the drive.
- File system metadata loss – The drive was detected as RAW instead of NTFS, making file structures unreadable.
- No mechanical failure – The hard drive was physically intact, meaning a non-invasive recovery was possible.
Since the data was still present but logically inaccessible, we focused on partition repair techniques to recover the till data.
The Recovery Process
1. Cloning & Imaging the Hard Drive to Prevent Further Damage
Before attempting recovery, we:
- Created a forensic sector-by-sector image of the drive.
- Used advanced imaging tools to bypass corrupted areas.
2. Rebuilding the Partition Table & File System
Since the partition table was damaged, we:
- Repaired the NTFS file system structure without formatting.
- Restored lost metadata, making files readable again.
- Recovered missing directory structures to maintain till data organization.
3. Verifying & Restoring Till Records & Sales Data
Once data extraction was complete, we:
- Checked all recovered till transactions for accuracy.
- Repaired corrupted sales history logs and financial reports.
- Transferred the restored data to a new external SSD for the client.
The Results: 100% Data Recovery Success
Thanks to our partition repair and forensic data recovery techniques, we successfully recovered 100% of the shop’s till records, including:
✅ Sales transaction logs and invoices
✅ Customer order history and payment records
✅ Inventory tracking and accounting files
The shop owner was able to continue business operations without losing critical financial records.
Why Choose Us?
With 25 years of experience and tens of thousands of successful recoveries, we are the leading business data recovery specialists in Oxford and the UK. Our expertise includes:
✔ Partition corruption repair & RAW drive recovery
✔ Master File Table (MFT) & NTFS restoration
✔ Business-critical data recovery for financial records
✔ Secure & confidential data retrieval
If your hard drive is asking to be formatted, showing as RAW, or not detecting files, do not format it—contact us for expert data recovery.