MPC 5000 HD Problem

Hi.
The hard disc on my 5000 died on me a few weeks back, wiping all the data in the process (fortunately, I had it backed up). Anyway, I replaced the HD today with a used drive and re-formatted it. I had a couple of error signs so I also re-installed the OS & re-initialised. Now the system boots up correctly every 2nd or 3rd time. The rest of the time I get a "SEng device not detected" screen. After pressing ok. If I try to load from the HD I get a "Invalid FS on HD" screen.
I have ordered a new HD but I wondered if anybody else had had a similar problem.
Can I do without the HD? I also installed the CD Drive today so I presume I can operate with the CF & the CD, right?
Any comments, advice or suggestions greatly appreciated.

Yes, you can operate with CF & CD. PC just took very looooong time for CF recognition every time I hooked it in USB mode. Try to format HDD by desktop computer in NTFS format first. Than put in MPC and reformat by machine.

im going to be installing a ssd into my unit, so i will do a little write up and post some pics, i got the adapter on order , (same one i used in my 4k)



Technical Details
Brand STARTECH.COM
Item Weight 14 g
Product Dimensions 21.8 x 15.8 x 4.7 cm
Item model number IDE2SAT2
Series IDE to SATA Hard Drive or Optical Drive Adapter - 40-Pin PATA to 2.5" SATA HDD/SSD/ODD Converter
Color Red

Additional Information
ASIN B00EOJNGC2
Customer Reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews
10 reviews
4.2 out of 5 stars
Best Sellers Rank 13,222 in Computers (See top 100)

#26 in Computers > Computer Accessories > Adapters > Serial Adapters

Shipping Weight 45 g
Date First Available 29 Aug. 2013

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00EOJNGC2

I've found a pair of adapters, one to convert IDE to CFCard, next, to convert SDCard to CFCard.
They work fine.