Safe to take apart JBOD external drive?

Hey guys,

I've searched plenty and I've been coming up with different answers. Here's my problem: I have a Comstar (never buy this brand) 1TB USB external that from what I've read, is 2x500GB in JBOD configuration. It no longer works and my computers don't recognize it at all. It's as if nothing is plugged into the USB port. It spins up when I turn it on but doesn't make the same whisper that it did. It's quieter.

Anyways, what I'm asking is, I've never dealt with JBOD, since it's just a bunch of disks, can I:

1) Just take both apart and I should be able to read the data off both drives individually?
2) Take it apart but it would not work unless I put it in JBOD config in my PC? (someone with the same external I've read has put the drives in another enclosure that supports JBOD and it worked)

Thanks so much in advance

thanks for your reply. i've been really busy so sorry i didnt get back sooner.

hooking them up to my PC in JBOD config wouldn't work? because once i open the enclosure, it'll prolly say on the JBOD controller which is drive 1 and which is drive 2

couldnt i just hook them up to my PC in that order JBOD and windows should recognize it?

i've taken many shots at linux, even ran on it for about 6 months straight. but i can never do anything without a step by step guide so i'd like to avoid it if possible.

thanks again!