Instal XP from USB CD drive but BIOS does not support boot from USB

[nobler]

Hi,
I am hoping that one of you experts will get me out of the mire.
My old Dell CPx laptop XP disk got corrupted and would not boot.
I booted from a floppy disk and used FDISK to format the internal HDD.

Now I need to re-install XP on the HDD from either Sony USB CD drive or a USB memory stick.
However the BIOS on the laptop does not support booting from USB. I've tried many various methods found on the web but not had any luck. Sometimes I don't even whow what they are talking about!

One more problem is that I'm not very computer savy, so if anyone can help would you please give an idiot proof step-by-step instruction.
Thanking you in advance
Robert

[techsheaven]

Tough! You could try this:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/310994

Take it a step at a time. Post back here if you run into any snags.

[nobler]

Thanks for the quick reply.
I tried this during the week and it worked perfect.
The laptops back up and runnig again.
Thank you very much.
I think I may have another problem, so watch out for a new post !!!
All the best
Robert