Originally Posted by maphioso

- the question i wanted to ask is how will i be able to differentiate renamed archives that have all been placed together - or will they still work?

The retrieved files will be renamed and not placed in folders. There's no way to know if the files will work before they've been recovered.

- and as I don't yet have the money to buy a new one I am also very opened to new suggestions to try

The things you could try are too risky IMHO. Data loss and non-functioning drive software may be the result.
I think you have to use a Data recovery tool (e.g. PhotoRec) and retrieve the data to another drive.