Toshiba 7140CT laptop only recognizes 65000 kb of new 250gb hdd when started with FDisk

An nice old machine!
If I recall correctly, FDISK low level formats partitions and I don't think the new hard drive will accept it without struggling. The bios on the mother board will not accept a drive as large as 250Gb as they didn't exist when the Bios was made.
Try partitioning as you require and format either FAT16 or FAT32 with another machine and see if it will accept it. I think the Bios was restricted to 6Gb drives so you may need to set up a lot of partitions!

Hope this helps.
Processor
Mobile Intel® Pentium® III processor, 500 MHz, 256 KB 2nd level cache, 100 MHz Front Side Bus Memory
Standard 64 MB SDRAM, expandable to 320 MB Hard disk
6.0 GB1) capacity, S.M.A.R.T. hard disk Internal video modes
1,024 x 768 x 16.7 million colours Display
13.3" (33.8 cm) TFT active matrix colour display Battery
Removable lithium-ion battery, 2-3 hrs battery life, with extra high capacity battery up to 5 hrs Size and Weight
297 x 241 x 25 mm, 2 kg Further Product Specifications

Diskette drive
External: 3.5" 1.44 MB/720 KB
DVD-ROM drive2)
6-speed (max) with optional DVD Network Dock II, 12 cm (5.25") and 8 cm (3.5") disks, data transfer 3,600 KB/sec, average access time: 140 ms
Graphics adaptor
128-bit graphics accelerator, SVGA-/VGA compatible, AGP bus, 64-bit BiTBlT, 4 MB internal Video RAM
External video modes
640 x 480 x 16.7 million colours,
800 x 600 x 16.7 million colours,
1,024 x 768 x 16.7 million colours,
1,280 x 1,024 x 65,536 colours,
1,600 x 1,200 x 65,536 colours
Up to 85 Hz refresh rate
Keyboard
86 keys, 12 function keys, 8 dedicated cursor keys, inlaid numeric keypad, 8 Hot Keys, 2 Windows® keys, AccuPoint™ II, Euro key
Sound System
16-bit stereo Sound Blaster Pro compatible, 3D-wide mode, MIDI & Wavetable synthesis, volume dial, built-in speaker and microphone
BIOS
ACPI (1.0b) enabled BIOS, SM BIOS V. 2.3
Expansion
2 x PC Card Type II or
1 x PC Card Type III,
CardBus support, memory expansion
Communication
Integrated international V.90 modem (56 Kbps data, 14.4 Kbps fax)
Interfaces
FDD connector, external monitor, USB, Fast Infrared Port, RJ 11 modem jack, headphone, external microphone, slot for Kensington Cable Lock
With I/O Adaptor:
serial, parallel, PS/2™ mouse and keyboard
With Docking Station (DVD Network Dock II):
serial, parallel, external monitor, PS/2™ mouse and keyboard, video out (NTSC/PAL), line-in, line-out, integrated FDD, includes built-in Ethernet (Wake-On-LAN and Service Boot support), 6-speed DVD-ROM drive
Power supply
Autosensing 100-240 V AC adaptor for world-wide usage
Casework
Magnesium alloy
Bundled software
Windows® 95 and Windows® 98 selectable installation, Windows® NT 4.0 on request (limited language versions available), PC Card management software, Toshiba utilities and drivers (all preinstalled on the hard disk)
Bundled hardware
External diskette drive, autosensing AC adaptor, I/O adaptor
Special features
Toshiba Hibernation and Resume, Toshiba Power Extensions, System Password Securities, HDD password on request, SecureSleep™, LANDesk Client Manager (LDCM), Wake-On-LAN and Service Boot support (with manageability software and LAN chip), Recovery CD, 3-year international warranty
Options
DVD Network Dock II, carrying case, extra high capacity battery, battery charger, 32, 64, 128 and 256 MB memory modules