Hardware

No the formated drive will work in any system that accepts that type of HDD. But if it has Windows on it it is very unlikely to work as when you install windows you install the drivers for that M'Board and other peripherals.

Without a Floppy or CD ROM your only option is to push out the install across the network or better still as it is easier is to partition the drive and copy the Windows Install Files from a OEM or Retail CD as the Restore CD for the other NB will not have the correct drivers for that NB.

With the complete CD copied to a partition on the HDD you should be able to just then boot up the computer and it should enter the setup but there may be some problems when the thing needs to do a reboot as it would be looking at the primary partition on the HDD and seeing the contents of the Install CD there.

Over all I would try to push out the install over a CAT % Crossover cable if you have a RJ45 socket on this NB, or better still shell out for a working CD ROM and fit it to the NB so you'll have a fighting chance of getting it loaded as there are very few ways other than networking of installing anything at all onto it. If there is no LAN socket you'll need a PCMCIA Network Card and even then it's not going to be an easy job.

If you have a Com port on it you could also try using a Null Modem Cable if they are still available to do the same thing as a network card or socket will do.

Col

In this case you have a boot option from flash card.
Make a bootable flash card and boot from this.

There's a couple of things you can do you can get a USB CD-ROM or floppy drive if you'd like to install a new OS from scratch.

If you install a different hard drive into You're laptop the bios We'll be configured for the old one, so the computer can read the new hard disk configuration, you will need to go into the bios and configure the new hard drive.

My advice is to get a external USB CD-ROM drive and install from scratch.

If the hard drive has win98 on it it should reinstall the new components.

The problem is that it wants to see a windows cd.

Take the laptop hard drive and put it on an adapter that will allow you to hook it to a desktop.

http://tinyurl.com/9p47k

Now using a partition software package, like partition magic 8, repartition the drive. Create a 1gig partition on the back end of the primary partition.

Now copy the win98 cd contents to the new partition.

Reinstall the drive and boot the laptop. When it asks for a windows cd, type in the address to the new partition. \win98


Good Luck

Lee

Purchase an external CDROM or floppy (USB) for less than $40-$50 from any vendor.... your CMOS should recognize these and you can boot or install your operating system this way. (or just borrow one....)

If it is win98 it will re-identify the hardware. But it is going to want the cab files. Make sure they are in a directory you can point the system to.

If the os is 2000 or XP it will not re-identify computer device hardware.

If the laptop can boot off of usb your best bet is to buy a usb floppy or cd.

Good Luck

Lee