How to reinstall windows on a dell insiron 6400?

[arben32]

How to reinstall windows on a dell insiron 6400?
I have changed the hard drive on it, and now I want to re install the operating system (windows xp which i have the CDs).
I am getting a message “’no bootable devices -- strike F1 to retry boot, F2 to setup utility Press F5 to run onboard diagnostics”’. When I press F 1 i get the above message again.
I also have an eternal dvd Room which i use for this laptop because the internal one does not work.
What should i do?

 

[ruready2]

Just a thought... Have you checked your boot sequence to determine if your system is set to boot from a cd rom first? You can check and/or change the boot order menu from system set-up aka system bios. F2 in your case.

Edit: Did you edit this post since my reply or do I need new glasses....lol. I didn't see the "enternal" (which I assume you meant external) cd rom device. In this case you will need to set the boot menu to boot from a usb device first.

 

[Leeky]

Or, rather than mess with BIOS, hit "f12" on startup, and just select the drive with your CD in.

Though the ideal way of doing things is to always have your 1st boot device set as a optical drive for this reason. Either my, or ruready2's way will work for you.

 

[raybay]

You are using the Dell reinstall disk, right?
It really is useful to depress the <F2> key, and change the boot order so the 6400 will find the Dell reinstall CD.
Then when done and everything is working perfectly, go back to <F2> and change back to the hard drive as first in the boot order... to avoid all those irritating sequences at start-up.

 

[ChinoNYC]

Edit: Did you edit this post since my reply or do I need new glasses....lol. I didn't see the "enternal" (which I assume you meant external) cd rom device. In this case you will need to set the boot menu to boot from a usb device first.

No no, we all need new glasses, he wrote down ETERNAL. LOL.

 

[arben32]

How to make usb number 1 and hard drive 2nd? When i press the space bar on Internal HDD it makes it number 1

 

[ruready2]

The instructions on the screen should tell you how to set the boot order menu. Use the up and down arrows on the keyboard to navigate to the usb device. Then set it to number 1 and the hdd second. This is, of course, dependent upon your motherboard having the ability to boot from a usb device.