Gutting a laptop

[Infinitypushups]

My Toshiba satellite C55t C5300 got wet. I didn't know it & sent it in on a warranty repair because it kept telling me NO BOOTABLE DRIVE PLEASE INSERT DISC. Not a warranty issue they want to charge $419 to fix. I figured since it's dead anyway I'd attempt to fix it. The motherboard seems to be working so I'm gonna start by replacing the hard drive. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.

 

[getochkn]

No boot disc usually just means windows can't be found. But if it got wet it could also mean that it can't find the hard drive because the controller is dead, etc.

I would first try putting like Linux on a USB stick and boot that and see if the display works fine, sound, and if it can even see the hard drive, etc and then go from there.

 

[boosted1g]

Agreed, try running a live disto of linux on your system.

This way you know that memory, cpu, video, and sound works fine.
If they dont then you would have to replace motherboard which often is more expensive then laptop is worth.

Also, when you go into BIOS does it display your hard drive and CD Drive?

 

[Infinitypushups]

At first it couldn't find it in bios but I could. When I was in there I could select the hard drive. I will get a copy of Linux and start there then. This is a journey of discovery for me. If it doesn't work I'm going to have to buy another one anyway so I figure I should learn something new.
Thank You!

 

[Infinitypushups]

I downloaded Ubuntu but it can't find the hard drive to do anything. I still can get to BIOS. I can get the Toshiba graphic at the beginning then nothing but no bootable device or I can f12 into the bios menu. The HDD/SDD area is blank. Am I going to have to replace the hard drive?
Thank you

 

[Cyber-Freak]

Yeah, you might want to check to see if someone took the HDD out, if its still there see if you can plug it into a desktop to see if the HDD recognizable there.

If you can't find the USB or boot to that you will have to check the BIOS to ensure you can boot from it, and press F5/F8 during boot to install from it.

 

[Infinitypushups]

Yeah, you might want to check to see if someone took the HDD out, if its still there see if you can plug it into a desktop to see if the HDD recognizable there.

If you can't find the USB or boot to that you will have to check the BIOS to ensure you can boot from it, and press F5/F8 during boot to install from it.

Thank you I'll try this.