You won't know until you try. Connect the hard drive to the laptop (use a USB enclosure if needed) and see if you can read it.

If the documents really are *very* important, as in worth more than $1,000, then don't do anything. Call a data recovery specialist and follow their instructions. If they're that important, do not try *ANYTHING*. If, for example, the head is scraping, every second the disk spins, more damage is being done.

View the original article here