I'm going to punctuate that beacuse I'm not sure if what I'm reading is what you meant:

Let's say it's the hard drive. Is it the IBM Travelstar ones? I'm goin' to have my computer teacher bitch check it out tomorrow.

You want to know what to buy as a replacement? Any laptop hard drive should do as long as it fits in the case. The Drive Upgrade Guide has info on the exact dimensions.

Tony says that a frayed cable might be likely on a MkI. Take a look at that and see if you can see any worn places.

And if your computer teacher is nice enough to check hardware components for you, you might want to reconsider calling her a bitch.