I have a laptop that has no o/s on it...
I have the disc for windows xp to install on to it...

but there is a problem....

The laptop does not have a cd rom drive

I dont have an external one either

all I have is and external hard drive connected to a desktop pc

is there any way possible of using that to install windows on the laptop?

Did that CD come with that notebook? If not, is that CD a full retail version of Windows, or an OEM?

Regardless, you need at least a CD reader. If you can't borrow one, you will need to buy on.

No, didnt come with the notebook... it was a full retail version I had for an older desktop

it was a full retail version I had for an older desktop

Okay, good. Then it is legal to use it on this laptop, as long as it has been uninstalled from the older desktop. But you still need a CD player, and you need the CD Key.

Yeah, the older desktop has been disposed of some time ago and I still have the original licence key on the case of the disc

Okay, then it looks like all you need is an external USB drive.

Once you have the drive, you might want to check out these instruction so you can boot to the install CD: How to Boot from the USB CD Drive