compaq armada 7400 clean install?

[slauwch]

i bought a secondhand compaq armada 7400 and had some problems with it so i formatted the hard drive.but now i have a problem, i cannot install windows again as the armada has only a diskette drive!
i have been thinking that a usb cd drive would do the trick, but i am not sure.so if anyone could help me with this i would be most grateful :confused:

[DonJ]

As you can see, there are about 27 models of the 7400 to choose from. (http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Lookup?h_lang=en&h_cc=us&cc=us&h_page=hpcom&lang=en&h_client=S-A-R163-1&h_tool=prodhomes&h_query=armada+7400&submit.x=4&submit.y=7) Once you select your model number, there might be BIOS/ROM upgrades available as well as the latest drivers.

Which version of Windows are you trying to install? Can you boot from the floppy with an Install Disk? Are you saying that you don't have a CDROM drive in your model? It looks like there is a CD-ROM Firmware Upgrade Available for certain models. (http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?locale=en_US&taskId=110&prodSeriesId=96228&prodTypeId=321957&objectID=PSD_PH990119_CW01)

Go here for a selection of manuals for the Armada 7400. (http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/DocumentIndex.jsp?contentType=SupportManual&locale=en_US&docIndexId=179111&taskId=115&prodTypeId=321957&prodSeriesId=96228) Might be some good info in there for you to find.

If you need to boot and/or access a USB CDROM drive in DOS, I'm sure that can be done...but I personally don't know how.

Good Luck!

[slauwch]

thanks donj for the advice,
i found the armada model 7400 6300/t/6400/d/0/3 and downloaded the rom update.
the original version on the hard drive was millenium and i tried to upgrade to xp that is when it went wrong! i didn't save the back up files.i can boot the computer up with a start up disk with cd support but there is no cdrom drive in the armada that is why i need a usb cdrom i think.
thanks!