rsd3

hi all here is the scene:

i have a Toshiba portege R100 laptop that is running windows XP SP2 with a preinstalled windows xp home OS

the laptop does NOT have a built in CD rom/DVD rom OR Floppy disk drive.

i am trying to reinstall my copy of windows xp home on the laptop however to no avail as when i start installing windows and it then requires the laptop to reboot the installation cannot continue due to the fact that my USB cd drive that i am using is not being detected as primary boot device, i have set the bios to look for CD drive , atlhough this is usb external, yet it still does not regonise the xp disc and continues to the black screen. i also cannot boot directly from my windows cd as the laptop is not recognising the USB external cd rom drive as a real source until the OS is actually started up which is obviously then too late.

even the "safe" cd provided by the manufacturer to reinstall a fresh copy of the os and the drivers is NOT recognised on start u when in the usb extrernal drive..

i have tried setting primary boot to usb but that still doesnt work , i have all the drivers downloaded and ready in a file , i just need the dam thing to install windows off my full retail version on disc!!

the laptop seems to have some "docking port" on the underside, aswell as an ethernet socket. Would these be useful in some way to get my laptop booting from external sources as it has no cd rom or floppy on board.

really need help or suggestions, thanks alot.