slightly OT: hp laptop broken

I have a HP laptop ZD7000 with a Pentium 4 HT processor and 512MB of ram. The laptop doesnt start because the harddrive is broken. My question is:where do i get a compatible harddrive, and how do i ensure that the harddrive is loaded with a linux OS so that i dont have to install anything.

Bring it to the shop an get it fixed. You dont have to do anything....but to pay the bill....;-)

Installs have to detect the exact hardware you're running. Only someone with your EXACT machine (and that goes down to the component level, some PC manufacturers change components during manufacturing runs - guess how I found that out? It was trying to ghost 2,000 PCs at a worldwide company and having severe headaches....) would be able to give you a 'pre-loaded' boot drive. 'Ya gotta learn how to do the painful things yourself....

Especially with linux, you're not going to get any ready-made solutions. You'll have to at least install it yourself.

but the dvd drive doesn't work. How do i install an OS without a DVD drive?

External CD/DVD drive. Network install. Copy installer to HD using another PC. etc

Copy the install files to the laptop HD, put the HD back in the laptop, and install from the HD.

but how do you copy the files to the laptop HD from a desktop PC? My laptop mobo seems to take ATA harddrives if i'm not mistaken. Its from 2004. hmm..let me search for USB-ATA thingies if they do exist... BTW, i really appreciate all the help from yall. quick question :Does any ATA laptop harddrive work with the laptop or should i only stick with the default western digital?

After you have a new hard drive and you want to use linux try installing Ubuntu 8.10. I've installed it on a few machines now including an old low spec laptop and it just works plus it detected all the hardware. You can also boot from a cdr or USB stick. Check out for information on USB sticks.

That pendrive linux looks interesting as well...hmm..might give it a shot.. What I have : 1).A 1 GB USB Flash drive 2).A HP laptop with non functional harddrive, perhaps with the ability to boot from USB 3).No knowledge on installing linux from a 1GB thumbdrive.