New Seagate 3.5" HD Issue: It Is getting Serious

Yesterday, we were reporting about a problem affecting Seagate HD from the 7200.11 series for models featuring 500 to 1.5 GB of storage space. The news quickly spread out and the German website Computerbase.de offers a synthesis of the currents facts and symptoms. The problem affects mostly HD manufactured in Seagate Thailand plants and shipping with the firmware S15.
The failure comes without any preliminary sign during the boot procedure of the computer, as the HD is then recognized as being a volume with 0GB of free space. There is currently no fix, and it is independent of the OS and/or configuration.
Companies specialized in HD data rescue indicated that data are still stored on the HD, but the firmware is blocking access to them.
According to some websites, the failure rate for those drives might reach 30 to 40%; this is simple 10 fold higher than the average rate usually recorded.
Seagate did not officially communicate about the problem but indicated to some people that they are working on a fix and should release an official statement during the week-end. While waiting for a solution, we recommend any users to backup all data stored on such HD from this series.
We will keep you inform about future development.