How to install os on dell latitude d400

Hi,

I have just received a dell latitude d400 that i would like to start using. It does not have an os currently installed. There is no D Bay with the computer. I have an external drive and a windows xp disk. Is it possible to load the os onto the system, as when I plug in the external drive there is power to it but the setup doesn't work, so i assume it is not working. Can someone tell me step by step what I need to do (I am not too tech savvy) to be able to put the os onto the computer. Or do i have to but a D bay and drive to get it working? If I do buy this, will it work automatically if i just plug it in? Thanks for your help.

 

If you've got an external optical drive (I assume it's USB), you should have an option in the boot menu (F12 at the BIOS screen) for a USB device. Select that, and you'll get a "Press any key to boot from CD", and there you go. The D400 doesn't exclusively work with a D-Bay optical drive.