is there any way to connect the HD from the laptop to your PC? that would work, There might be a way to use a network and tranfer the data like that. I'm not sure that would work though, because when windows installs it looks for a CD-ROM, you might be able to fool it. Your best bet is to get that laptop HD out and install it on a PC or try to connect your CD-ROM from your PC to the laptop...don't know if they use the same IDE connectors though.