Fix ERROR_FT_READ_RECOVERY_FROM_BACKUP (0X000002C0) on RAID drives

Quick answer

Run chkdsk /f on the drive letter, then check the S.M.A.R.T. status of all disks in the RAID set. Replace any disk with bad sectors or failing health.

What this error actually means

You're looking at error 0X000002C0 — ERROR_FT_READ_RECOVERY_FROM_BACKUP. This happens when Windows tries to read data from a mirrored or RAID volume, but the primary copy is corrupted or unreadable. So Windows falls back to a backup copy (like the other disk in a RAID 1 pair or a Storage Spaces mirror).

I've seen this most often on computers with software RAID (like Storage Spaces in Windows 10/11) or hardware RAID controllers. It pops up when you try to open a file, run an app, or even boot the system. The real fix is to find which disk is failing and replace it. But first, you need to check if you can still save your data.

Step-by-step fix

1. Back up your data right now. Before doing anything else, copy important files off the affected drive. The error means one disk might die soon. Use a different drive or network share. Don't rely on this drive for safety.
2. Open Command Prompt as admin. Press Windows key + X, then click "Command Prompt (Admin)" or "Terminal (Admin)". If it asks for permission, click Yes.
3. Run chkdsk on the drive. Type chkdsk X: /f (replace X with the drive letter showing the error). Press Enter. You'll see something like: "The type of the file system is NTFS." Then it scans. Wait for it to finish — could take 10 minutes to an hour on big drives with errors.
4. After chkdsk finishes, you'll see a summary. Look for "Windows has made corrections to the file system." If it says that, chkdsk fixed some problems. If you see "The volume appears to be healthy" but the error persists, the disk itself is bad.
5. Check disk health with WMIC. In the same Command Prompt, type wmic diskdrive get status. Press Enter. You'll see "Status" column. If any disk shows "Bad" or "Pred Fail", that's your problem disk. If all say "OK", run wmic diskdrive get model,status for more details.
6. Use Disk Management to see RAID status. Right-click Start, click "Disk Management". Look at the affected disk. If the disk shows "Failed redundancy" or "At risk", the mirror is broken. Right-click the healthy disk and choose "Reactivate Disk" if it's grayed out. This sometimes fixes the mirror.
7. Replace the failing drive. If you found a bad disk from step 5 or 6, power down, swap the bad disk with a new one of equal or larger size. For hardware RAID, follow your controller's manual to rebuild the array. For Storage Spaces, open Storage Spaces in Control Panel, click "Change settings" next to the pool, then "Add drives" to add the new disk. The system will rebuild automatically.

Alternative fixes if the main one didn't work

Use DiskPart to force the mirror rebuild

Sometimes Windows gets stuck. DiskPart can help.

1. Open Command Prompt as admin.
2. Type diskpart and press Enter.
3. Type list disk to see all drives. Note the numbers for your RAID disks.
4. Type select disk X (replace X with the disk that's healthy). Press Enter.
5. Type detail disk to check volume info.
6. Type select volume Y (the volume on the RAID). Press Enter.
7. Type assign letter=Z (or a free letter). If that fails, the disk is too damaged.
8. If you need to break the mirror to access data, type break disk X — but this removes redundancy. Only do this if you have a full backup already.

Use a Linux live USB to recover files

If Windows won't boot and you can't read the drive, a Linux live USB can sometimes bypass the error.

1. Download Ubuntu or any Linux ISO, write it to a USB with Rufus.
2. Boot from the USB (press F12, F2, or DEL at startup).
3. Choose "Try Ubuntu" without installing.
4. Open Files app. Your Windows drives show up under "Devices" on the left. Click to mount them.
5. Copy files to an external drive. Linux doesn't care about the Windows error — it reads the underlying data.

Prevention tip

Hard drives fail. Mirrors give you a chance, but they're not backups. Set up regular backups to a separate device or cloud. Also, check your disk health every 3 months. On Windows, run wmic diskdrive get status or use CrystalDiskInfo. If a disk starts showing bad sectors, replace it before the error hits.