Making the best out of the worst?
 

I've got this old Toshiba Satellite Media Center laptop. Big blue hunk of crap. Original problem was that the power supply adapter broke. We opened it up and soldered the AC connector to it direct and it worked for a bit. I went to reformat, but apparently wiping the hard drive is a bad idea - you can't reformat these Toshiba laptops straight from CD.

Long story short, the hard drive is trashed too. The only option I appear to have left is "Network Boot" -- is there anything I can do with that?

It'd be a shame to see a laptop with a nice TV tuner and huge-ass screen go to waste. I could use some suggestions.

And I don't think I have a floppy drive.

You might try something like KnoppMyth or
Mythbuntu on it. I think they can bu run from the CD.

I should have been more clear - nothing can run from the CD whatsoever.

Ouch. Maybe http://www.pendrivelinux.com/ could be something then? (If you can boot from USB that is)

The laptop is a few years old and I think it lacks USB bootability. I tried a few of those things just for the heck of it to no avail.
I hate wasted hardware :(

when your door keeps closing, put the laptop in front of the door. Instant use!!!!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...1-doorstop.jpg

It's certainly heavy enough ;)