reformatting with external cd rom, possible?

[pwnzor17]

-Dell Inspiron xxx (unsure of the model number offhand)
-Have tried booting from cd rom, external usb device, and internal hdd

So my scenario is, windows took a dump, internal factory cd rom does not work, is it possible to boot windows xp cd from an external cd rom? I have tried everything I can think of, but I cannot boot off the external cd rom

If not, how easy is it to replace a cd rom in a laptop?

 

[KSoD]

The only way ti would work is if you have the BIOS set to boot from USB Devices before anything internal. Even then it may not work. Depending on the system. Some older laptops and that dont allow booting from USB Devices.

It shouldnt be to hard to replace the internal drive. Find out the model and check the manual. I am sure they have it documented somewhere.

 

[Jorsoft]

Replacing the internal drives is usually really easy. In my experience, Dells usually have one or two screws and then the drive pretty much just slides out. If you google for a service manual on your particular model you should be able to find instructions easily.

If you're booting from an external cdrom you have to make sure the boot order in the BIOS is set to boot from the external drive first or you're not going to get anywhere.