Seagate HDD recover help

Data Recovery Solutions for a Failed Seagate HDD: Seeking Advice

Hello Readers,

I am currently facing a challenging situation with my 2TB Seagate hard drive, which has recently malfunctioned. Upon connecting the drive, I receive the following error messages:

• Location is not available
• F:\ is not accessible.
• The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable.

While my computer can still detect the drive—albeit with a delay after plugging it in—I’m unable to access any of the data stored on it.

To address this issue, I’m considering the first step of creating a raw image of the drive. Initially, I thought about using ddrescue paired with gzip for this task. However, since my new empty SSD is also 2TB, storage space is a concern due to the lack of additional capacity. After researching further, I’ve come across a suggestion that HDDSuperclone might be a more appropriate tool for my needs.

Here’s a rough plan I’m contemplating:

1. Examine the disk’s S.M.A.R.T. data: If the value for ID 5 exceeds 500, it might indicate a significant issue that warrants caution. Ideally, I would prefer to avoid further complications.
2. Given that CrystalDiskInfo couldn’t even recognize my HDD, I’m uncertain if I should attempt anything at all.

As for the HDDSuperclone process, my intended command looks like this:

bash
sudo hddsuperclone \
-s /dev/sdd \
-t /dev/stdout \
-f "/mnt/i/RESTORE HDD/HDD_IMAGE.log" \
--skip-fast \
| gzip -c > "/mnt/i/RESTORE HDD/HDD_IMAGE.gz"

I would appreciate any insights or advice from those who have experience with similar data recovery scenarios. Do you think this approach is sound? Are there alternatives you recommend?

Thanks in advance for your help!