Laptop didn't come with a reboot/recovery disc

it probably had a 'recovery partition' on the HDD which allows you to restore windows in the event windows esplodes and you need to re-install....but no recovery CD/DVD

you will not be able to re-install windows w/out a disc. what i would do is try to order one (a recovery cd/dvd) from toshiba, or get a nerdy friend of yours to re-install windows from cd/dvd

you could always just throw a linux distro on it.

Go to lubuntu.net, download iso, burn iso to CD, boot new HDD from CD, install OS.

Just make your own disk. The recovery disk is used to recover your drive.

Your installing a WHOLE new drive.

Look on the bottom of the laptop, find what version of Windows your running, goto a secondary/friends/school computer, download that version of Windows, ISOburn it to a CD, and then install it.

The Windows Serial Key/Number should be on a sticker on the bottom of your laptop

Ive had to do this multiple times, because I never keep those. If not, then call Toshiba, and get one sent to you.

who are you?

you are like my twin or something.

Ubuntu would be a good first linux choice. Just dont know if hed want to spend the time learning, finding programs, etc.

if you can't figure out the recent versions of ubuntu you probably shouldn't be using a computer. they're just as easy as any other operating system to get all the basics you need.

Maybe I am you from a parallel reality.

Ubuntu is good at the core but the default version isn't that great. I'd suggest going with a variant such as Lubuntu, Kubuntu, or Xubuntu. As I already said, Lubuntu is my preference. Default Ubuntu has lots of unnecessary software, privacy/security-compromising software (such as Zeitgeist, which is hard to remove because of the dependencies of the file manager, text editor, etc), and an extremely ugly default DE (which is easy to change, yes, but just another disadvantage of the default version of Ubuntu). And the variants have the same repositories so the available software is the same. Other good distros for people just switching from Windows are Linux Mint (based on Ubuntu and Debian) and Debian.

I don't actually mind most parts of unity. the only thing that makes me rage is the auto hiding menu bar. I actually am able to be quite productive using it.

But these days I am more stoked on the fedora side of things. Mostly because the releases have physics names. Also because scientific linux gives you extra nerd cred.

By reboot do you mean reset your computer to factory (default) settings?

I hate Unity and Gnome 3. And equally so Windows 8. The traditional look with a taskbar, applications/start menu, etc works perfect, there's a reason it was used by pretty much all OS from the beginning until a few years ago. All the changes with new DEs are just trying to fix what isn't broken (and incorporate things designed for phones and tablets into traditional desktops and laptops) and all it's accomplished is making things much less clear (i.e. no more taskbar showing what windows I have open) and more complicated (i.e. go to a search menu to find terminal rather than using quicklaunch or apps-accessories-terminal if you don't know ctrl+alt+t). Gnome classic is nice. KDE, Cinnamon, XFCE, etc are all fine with me (though LXDE is my favorite). I just hate the new ones that try to be very different just to be different. As for Fedora, I've heard people talk about it plenty of times but I've never tried it.

The OS is installed on the hard drive and he is getting a new hard drive, so it's not about resetting anything, it's about installing an OS on a hard drive that doesn't have an OS. And for that he'll need an OS installation CD (it's possible to use other means like a USB drive but that's irrelevant, CD is usually the best option).