it says it can't locate the battery. once i take the plug out it instantly dies, but in the plug it's fine, even though it says it has no battery. should i take it in, or is there an at home solution?
You should take the battery out, and then put it back in. Just look up "How to remove a laptop battery" and when you put it back in, it should work.
What probably happened is that the battery got moved around a little bit when you dropped it, and it just needs to be put back in the way it was before.