<s>
In	O
computing	O
,	O
the	O
term	O
raw	B-Device
disk	I-Device
,	O
often	O
referred	O
to	O
as	O
raw	O
,	O
is	O
used	O
to	O
refer	O
to	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
access	O
at	O
a	O
raw	O
,	O
binary	O
level	O
,	O
beneath	O
the	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
level	O
,	O
and	O
using	O
partition	B-Application
data	O
at	O
the	O
MBR	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
notable	O
example	O
is	O
in	O
the	O
context	O
of	O
platform	B-General_Concept
virtualization	I-General_Concept
,	O
and	O
a	O
feature	O
of	O
certain	O
virtualization	O
software	O
is	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
access	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
disk	I-Device
at	O
the	O
raw	O
level	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Virtualization	O
software	O
may	O
typically	O
function	O
via	O
the	O
usage	O
of	O
a	O
virtual	B-Application
drive	I-Application
format	O
like	O
OVF	O
,	O
but	O
some	O
users	O
may	O
want	O
the	O
virtualization	O
software	O
to	O
be	O
able	O
to	O
run	O
an	O
operating	O
system	O
that	O
has	O
been	O
installed	O
on	O
another	O
disk	O
or	O
disk	B-Application
partition	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
order	O
to	O
do	O
this	O
,	O
the	O
virtualization	O
software	O
must	O
allow	O
raw	B-Device
disk	I-Device
access	O
to	O
that	O
disk	O
or	O
disk	B-Application
partition	I-Application
,	O
and	O
then	O
allow	O
that	O
entire	O
operating	O
system	O
to	O
boot	O
within	O
the	O
virtualization	O
window	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
RAW	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
indicates	O
a	O
state	O
of	O
your	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
which	O
has	O
no	O
or	O
unknown	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
disk	O
or	O
drive	O
with	O
a	O
RAW	O
file	B-Application
system	I-Application
is	O
also	O
known	O
as	O
RAW	B-Device
disk	I-Device
or	O
RAW	O
drive	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
a	O
hard	B-Device
drive	I-Device
or	O
external	O
storage	O
device	O
is	O
shown	O
as	O
RAW	O
,	O
it	O
could	O
be	O
:	O
</s>
