weybrew

Thanks for your comments and links. I've downloaded the Seagate Tools and it seems to confirm your thoughts about this drive... attached are the specifics. I have resumed my search for a recovery program and have found WinfrGUI which is FREE and with an unlimited data cap. Using it I was able to recover many, many files, all of which seem to be fully functional. Thanks so much for your help to a seemingly successful solution.

No, I am not a charity. I'm just a retired, senior who has a friend, who has a friend, who passes along equipment he no longer needs or wants. So, I have no idea who did the formatting. This "M" drive just popped up when I first plugged it into my computer. The fellow who passes along the equipment has lots of money and uses it buy the newest, baddest thing when released, so I'm sure he has one or more NAS units. I just assumed I was dealing with an SSD because it looks about the right size... 4 1/2 x 3 x 3/4. And it does run warm. And I just now heard it spinning when I held it to my ear. Sorry for the improper terminology, I'm just trying to cope with 2023 tech. If the drive is as you suspect, is there any reason I cannot use it as an external storage drive?

Not sure why the drive was formatted... it was donated. The drive is a Seagate Backup Plus SRD00F1 (or SRDOOF1) 5TB. The USB 3 hub is an ATOLLA 4slot. But, as I mentioned above, Recuva also balked when the drive was plugged directly into the CPU (HP EliteDesk). I hope this information helps... and thanks for continuing to help me.

The drive is plugged into a powered USB 3.0 hub. I tried reconnecting directly to the CPU but it still wouldn't work. The File Explorer (WIN 10) shows the drive, so I assume that Windows "sees" the drive.

Yes, nukecad, it is the same problem. That's why I tried to post the updated information. And I'm still stuck!

I continued attempting to reinstall Recuva and suddenly the install initiated and completed successfully. ??? Even after this, however, I scan and find files available to recover but I am failing to complete. I keep getting the "device not ready" error message.

While doing a scan of a target SSD, the process froze at Stage 2, 34%. So I tried an uninstall which was not successful. Only when I did a "force uninstall" was I able to remove the program. Now I want to reinstall a new copy but the process freezes yet again and I am unable to complete the install. Can anyone suggest a fix and/or point out my mistake?

Thanks, nukecad, for your reply and suggestions. Yes, it seems the target drive was, in fact, sleeping. When I clicked on it in Windows Explorer it responded and Recuva seems to be working on it now. I also checked to make sure the Power Management setting was not turned on. Thanks again for your help.

I am attempting to recover the content of a formatted SSD and I get a message saying my target drive is "not ready." I am not a techie and do not understand what has happened and how or if I can fix the problem.

Thanks for your replies, mta and Nergal. I was not skilled enough user to understand how this works. I have a better understanding now.

Under TOOLS>DRIVE WIPE>WIPER> CCleaner gives you the option of wiping "Entire Drive" yet when I make this selection, the C: drive as well as the WIPE button are greyed out. I want to completely clean the hard drive on a computer that I will be donating. Will this program do that? How to I get it to work, please?