I'll give you the basics, as I know questions will follow:
My HD is dead. Stone. Cold. Dead. I cannot boot into windows and can't get past the BIOS unless I run Zorin from a USB thumb drive. But I cannot install it because (duh!) the HD is dead.
Computer is a Dell Latitude 3390 2-in-1.
The question:
I am good with installs, but it's been YEARS since I put in a new hard drive. I got one that fits. What I'd like to do is put the Zorin ISO image on the HD through my other laptop using an external HD enclosure. I know a new HD has to have system software to work.
So, do I boot the 3390 from thumb drive and install Zorin on the new (unformatted) HD, or do I burn the Zorin ISO image to the HD through my other comp and install and boot from the HD? In other words, what do I have to do to get the HD functional and running Zorin with no traces of Windows (which I care not to run in dual boot mode)?
OK. Impatience got the better of me. I was getting a freeze when installing Zorin on the 3390. Upon clicking install, I'd get the spinning wheel of death and it wouldn't advance. I really had decided it was a fried HD. I opted to remove the HD and it did show up when installed in an enclosure. It was not dead, but it would not accept Zorin. So for $40, I dropped a new, unformatted HD in my 3390 and booted from USB. I installed Zorin on the HD and got an initial error, but that was because the drive was not formatted. At all.
After exiting the install, I got a message that the HD was not formatted and did I want to install Zorin on it. I said yes and I am rocking Zorin. I guess I was overthinking it.
It can depend on if the install is Legacy or EFI, in legacy, you can only ever have up to Four Bootable devices.
There are many things we could examine for troubleshooting that, but if you have everything up and running now, there may be no need.
You may run a S.M.A.R.T. test on that drive anyway, just for peace of mind.