(hope I'm the first one to ask this kind of question around here, may or may not have seen some posts that are similar or exactly like this)
My 2.5 and my 3.5 were both got dropped on the floor. They've just dropped flat and didn't bounce or whatever, but I'm not sure whether or which side of the drive were they got dropped. Probably from behind as one was wrapped in a bubble wrap (3.5) and the 2.5 was just on top of it. When they got dropped they've landed both flat and the 2.5 were still on top of 3.5 and as of now, the 2.5 only rattles when is shaking vertically but isn't horizontally. The 3.5 weren't rattling vertically but I think I could hear a swooshing high pitched sound when you'd shake it horizontally. Kind of like when you swing a very thin stick, you'll get that high pitch sound.
I'm not sure if I should plug it in then see if it boots or just let a professional check the internal parts. Either way, I'm still is uncertain as one would cause more harm to the drives and the other would cost me money that much. However, I'm uncertain whether or not neither of the drives contain something important, so I guess I'll just leave it to that. I'd still would want to see some files around if they're important before totally disposing them. If they boot however but is only readable, how could I make a whole copy of its partitions? I'm guessing some or both of these were being used to boot windows before. Plus, I'm also guessing that while its gonna read it the drive, it would be intermittent. I don't know which software could help me with that sort of problem and surely to extract it as well. I hope some of you guys could help me here