The hard drive has died on packard bell easynote and have no discs to load onto

[Boardwriter]

Packard Bell Easynote SW51-B-021
S/N 7953033400236
PB57M)1001
The Hard Drive is finished. I get nothing from it. I tried another Drive and the laptop started up but let me know that that the Windows OS was not legal. My problem is, even though I have a new Hard Drive to replace the old one I do not have the Discs'. The laptop is years old probable one of the 1st made and Disc's did not come with it. There was never a Backup/Replacement Disc made. So without the Tattoo and the Discs' what can I do? It's still a great laptop even though it's dead in the water. I have tried PB website but the site does not have details or Drivers for this Model probably due to the age.

 

[C12Friedman]

Welcome to Tom's Hardware Forums,
I am going to suggest putting Linux on that machine as the OS. Programs like Ubuntu are rather easy to get running and open source software is available that can accomplish most anything you would do in windows. There is a learning curve involved but it would be an effective way to keep life in your laptop.

 

[Boardwriter]

Thank you very much. I never thought of that at all. I will give it a try and will let you know the outcome. Once again thank you very much.