I have a dell latitude L400 which has external DVD Rom. I have bought new hard drive and traing to install new window but the sistem sais that The operating sistem is not found. F2 and F12 kis are not working as well.

but you have to have 256mb of ram (memory)

Hi.

The part is called "hard drive caddy" and it is not expensive. Here one example: 1144T - Dell Inspiron 2100, Latitude L400, Check also on Ebay.

try other known good windows installer. if it boot, then the problem is in xp installer, if it not. try other external cd-rom drive. also be sure the disc rom drive are dvd rom drive because a cd rom drive cannot read dvd disc but a dvd rom drive can read cd rom disc installer

This laptop will not give you an option to boot from a usb device or even from an external cd rom/dvd. You need to do a network install only for this particular model DEll c400. It is a long process and requires some skill of setting up a RIS server. You will also need a switch or hub to connect your laptop to it. Once your server is setup with dns, dhcp and ris you need to do a network boot and install the os. Get in touch with a professional to do it if your not familiar with this. I tried calling dell as i had a similar issue and they couldnt help me over the phone so they sent over a technician. Technician tried in vbain including removing my hdd and installing the os on his laptop and then putting the hard drive back into mine. It still didnt work. I then researched the net and figured out the only way to do it was via a remote installation.

You have either a bad optical drive or optical port. You can still load the OS but you need to make a bootable USB drive and install that way. Or get and use an external USB optical.

also, check in your bios or for the drive settings, it may be set to only accept sata drives or the port may be disabled. some latitudes give the ability to disable or not look at a specific port.

Looks like the answer is yes. Call to be sure. For prices and availability of parts and upgrades for this system, call 1-800-357-3355. Give them the service tag number and they will be able to tell you for sure.

Assembly 24X CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive Usually Ships 3-4 DaysManufacturer Part# R3117 Dell Part# R3117
Starting Price $109.95

go to BIOS by pressing F2 on dell logo, then go to Boot Menu, make hard drive as the 1st boot device

follow these stapes :) ( click here )

Firstly, put cd on the dvd rom drive. Boot up machine and press directly F12, it wil give you an option whether to boot up machine. Choose boot up my cd drive then it will read your cd and install the OS.

1.If you purchase an external USB CD drive you will not need to use your floppy discs for booting. 2. You can connect a USB CD drive to your system. 3. Your system will recognize any device plugged into your USB drive. 4. There is no CD drive available for internal installation in your computer. 5. With the USB CD drive plugged in and the windows installation disc inserted, your computer should take you through the setup program automatically.