How to install your Operating System when you don't have a CD or DVD drive in your Dell Computer.

(Fig.2.1 External Hard Disk Drive Caddy)

An external Caddy is a Hard Drive enclosure that attaches to a system with a USB or Firewire cable. Some are enclosures used for external storage and some are desk docks for temporary use. Most internal IT departments use them to access faulty Hard Drives and sometimes to install a Hard Drive using a different computer.

(Fig.2.2 Extended Dock)

(Fig.2.3 External USB Dock)

(Fig.2.4 External Wireless Dock)

Some external docks come with integral Optical Drives and a multitude of different ports. They can connect to your system either through a docking port connector on most Notebooks or through a USB connection. These Docks can work as attached Optical Drives or as USB hubs during an install process.

(Fig.2.5 External Media Slice)

Some Dell Notebooks have a media slice available for sale. The Slice is a minimal dock. It fits to the base of the d-series laptop and has a slim line Optical drive and minimal ports. Sometimes it has a secondary battery as well. It is specifically designed to fit a particular system chassis base.

(Fig.2.6 External USB DVD)

You can obtain a low-cost USB powered CD/DVD drive. It is the simplest option but involves the cost of getting the drive.

(Fig.2.7 External Media Bay)

Some Dell Notebooks support external Media Bays. These are modules that attach to the computer with a double headed cable that has both a USB connector and a propriety power connector. You must have the correct connections on your system to use this bay. The bay is a standard module that takes all of Dell's media bay options, from Optical drives, through to batteries and secondary Hard Drives.

(Fig.2.8 USB Flash Drive)

Every system comes with multiple USB ports now. (From USB Type-A which is shown in the picture, to USB Type-C which is the latest connector format.) You can now purchase Install media on Bootable USB drives or download ISOs that you can load to a bootable USB. There are also several methods possible to make an ordinary USB drive bootable and then to load install media to it. You would use it in place of a CD or DVD. There are a number of different methods for this, but the most common is called slipstreaming.

(Fig.2.9 Donor Chassis)

This last option is to use another system that has an optical drive as a donor. This means installing your Hard Drive into the donor system and performing the install on that machine. Once that is complete, transfer your Hard Drive back into your own machine to complete installing the drivers and software.

I hope this has given you some idea's on how to work around any systems limitations. If not, contact your Technical Support for further help.

The following article describes How to Create Backup discs of your Microsoft Windows Operating System installation, and where to find Media Recovery information:

• Dell Media Recovery Options

Download the Windows recovery image file. Follow the instructions in the following guide to create a bootable USB drive or DVD. Copy the recovery image onto your bootable media. Use the media to reinstall Windows on your Dell device:

• How to create and use the Dell Windows Recovery Image

(Fig.3.1 DBAR)

This software was free, and it let you create both a restore image and recovery media as well as backup your data in case of any issues with your system. We recommended running this once you confirmed that you had the machine fully set up and working as you liked it, but before you added all of your data and software. Dell no longer supplies or distributes this application. Windows 10 made it unnecessary:

• Dell Backup and Recovery 1.8: Overview

(Fig.3.2 Third-Party Backup Media)

Most companies have their own approved version of each operating system and the software they tested for your System type. This is sometimes done as a DVD such as a Ghost Disc from Norton. It is most often installed from an image server or central storage. It is used on your system when its connected to your company network through a PXE NIC (Network Adapter) boot. It boots before the OS loads. I would advise having a word with your Internal IT department to see if this is an option you can take advantage of.

The following article provides links to basic solutions.

(Fig.4.1 Factory Image)

Most systems shipped without an optical drive now have a factory image built into them. If it's included on your computer, I'd recommend this. It returns the system to the state it shipped from Dell with the least amount of work required:

• How to restore the Dell factory image with Dell Backup and Recovery

System Restore is a built-in Windows tool that is designed to protect and repair the operating system. When something goes wrong with your computer, System Restore should be used before restoring to factory condition:

• How To Restore or Reinstall Microsoft Windows on a Dell Computer

This article provides a step-by-step guide for refreshing or resetting Windows 10 on a Dell computer. It includes how to refresh the operating system to the Dell factory image. Which is located on the recovery partition:

• Reset or reinstall Windows 10 on your Dell computer

Dell Backup and Recovery allows you to restore your computer to its original configuration. You can view information about this service on the Dell Back-up and Recovery site. You can also make a backup of your computer system. You can use that backup to restore your operating system to that point or to recover your personal date including photos, videos, documents, and music:

• Restoring your operating system on a Dell computer in Windows 8