...and I've learned that as of 2007, Toshiba discontinued the recovery disks that had always accompanied the laptops, and instead, allow you to totally restore your computer without the help of a disk. (The model of my laptop is Satellite L300D - 01P).
Have you also learned that you SHOULD create recovery DVD using preinstalled “Toshiba recovery disc creator” tool? When something goes wrong with HDD you can use this disc for operating system installation. This is clearly described in User’s manuals document.
Back to your problem:
I don't know for sure but I’m afraid you have some problem with HDD controller or HDD itself.
Is HDD recognized in BIOS settings (F2 at start up)?