How to recover Acer Aspire One

My Acer Aspire One, with Windows XP just crashed, and I think the hard drive is bad. If I get a new hard drive, how would I put windows xp back on it if it doesn't have a CD-ROM?

 

First of all, try D2D recovery, just in case your hard drive is OK. There's plenty of guides available on the forums for that, just do a quick search.

If you have warranty, send it away for repair, they might put another hard drive in or at the very least they always run a factory restore when you send them away for warranty.

Or if you get your own replacement, you can reinstall XP in a couple of different ways.
* External USB CD/DVD drive (just like using an internal optical drive)
* USB Thumb Drive Install (a bit more advanced)
The product key for your version of Windows XP is on the bottom of your netbook, it also tells you what version of windows you need to get a CD for (Home / Pro). Just borrow a friends disk for that one.

 

I have an 8.9" model.
The OS is located in a hidden partition, and works in a unique way for this netbook, compared to a regular desktop.
I had a virus once, and had to use the Acer recovery system.

So,
I question these methods for setting up the netbook, if a new blank HDD is needed. This isn't just curiosity, I likely have a failed drive in mine.

Is the only method to get it running, to load XP onto the computer normaly? Meaning I'll need to rely on the XP disc in the future?

And I thought the product serial key worked with a single copy of XP. Can I actually use the key on my netbook, with the XP disc I borrow from someone?