OX-27,
There is the possibility that the motherboard is bad and it was manifesting itself as a bad Hard Drive, when it could be the Hard Drive Controller that is the actual problem.
As fobotcso mentioned, we really need more details on the notebook itself along with the replacement drive you are using.
Take Care,
Richard
P.S. Depending on the age and specs of the notebook, it might be worth skipping WinME and installing WinXP.