New Hard Drive and DVD-ROM Doesn't work

[Dnole58]

I have a dilemma. A friend had his HD Die (Yes the infamous IBM TravelStar - go figure). So I ordered a replacement...fine... BUT his DVD-ROM does not seem to work either, so I have no way to load the operating system (XP). I've been thinking of tricks, but nothing seems feasible at this point. I MAY have an Old OS Floppy somewhere to at least get DOS going.... but ???? It is a Dell Inspiron 8000 / LG DRN-8080B DVD-ROM. And NO Modular DVD. Only a floppy drive. ... uggh! Tricks ??? Thanks !!!

 

[andrew_berge]

Does his computer support booting from USB?

 

[Prostar Computer]

Does his computer support booting from USB?

Yeah, you could install it from a USB if it supports booting to USB. Or, if you can connect it to a network, you could install the OS from that.

 

[Dnole58]

Does his computer support booting from USB?

 

[Dnole58]

Nope. I believe that I have an old Floppy (in storage) that is DOS Bootable. The laptop has a IEEE-1394 and mini-PCI slots but the BIOS does not look at the 2 USB ports.

 

[Prostar Computer]

Nope. I believe that I have an old Floppy (in storage) that is DOS Bootable. The laptop has a IEEE-1394 and mini-PCI slots but the BIOS does not look at the 2 USB ports.

Ouch! I'm not entirely adept at DOS command line either. Other than installing the OS from a network, the only other options I can think of will require you to purchase additional hardware to circumvent the brick wall.