i have recently recieved a gateway solo 5300 notebook as a gift and it has no cd drive or operating system on it. how do i get an operating system on this notebook. i have tried to use a external cd drive but ms-dos does not pick it up through usb ports. i also used a external harddrive but like the previous ms-dos does not pick it up. what do i do? thank you for even reading this

Yes, that certainly is a difficult situation. You won't find USB drivers for your external CD drive or USB hard drive for DOS as DOS knows nothing about USB ports at all.

As a system builder, I have access to a lot more kit for setting up PCs / laptops than most people would have lying around but even I would struggle with this one! My suggestions would be:

1. Attach a drive that uses the parallel or serial port, e.g. a ZIP drive, assuming that you can install drivers for DOS to recognise it.

2. Network it to another PC that has a CD drive. This would assume that you have a network card in the laptop and drivers for DOS to recognise it. And, of course, it assumes that you've got another PC with a network card installed. Alternatively, you can get a "laplink" cable to do the same thing.

3. Get another hard disk that already has Windows 98 installed. You can pick these up from auction sites such as www.qxl.co.uk or www.ebay.co.uk or from computer trade fairs fairly cheaply. Note that a laptop hard disk is 2.5", not the standard 3.5" size that is fitted inside desktop PCs. Also bear in mind that, to stay legal, you need to make sure that the hard disk with Windows installed is also supplied with the Windows licence certificate (or that you have an appropriate licence already).

4. Install Windows 95 or 98 from floppy disk. Again, you can pick this up from auction sites but make sure that you have a legal licence to install it.

5. Buy the CD drive that Gateway made for your laptop.

6. Buy a 2.5" to 3.5" hard disk adaptor cable. This allows you to fit the hard disk inside a desktop PC. From there, you can then format the laptop hard disk, create a new folder on it and copy the Windows 98 installation files into it. Fit the hard disk back into the laptop, switch it on and you'll get to the DOS C:> prompt. Navigate to the installation files and run Setup.

Hope one of these ideas helps. Personally, I would definitely go for idea number 6 - it's by far the quickest and easiest (if you've got easy access to a desktop PC) if all you want is an operating system and you won't be thinking later "Now how do I install Office?" ! If you can't get hold of one of these adaptor cables, let me know and I can get you a price