Boot problem. toshiba portege344oct...its an old model & i acquired it 2nd hand....

Question

toshiba portege344oct...its an old model & i acquired it 2nd hand.... originally, its os was win98 but its already winxp when i got it....hd drive is already bigger than what was its original and with additional RAM already...from 64mb to 128mb.... many upgrades have already been done to it i think.... now, it won't boot....i think its b-coz the cd rom drive is external via USB port.....i already tried CMOS & changed the boot sequence to cd rom but the same happens...it stops.... a friend suggested to have the HD removed and repair it thru another notebook....problem is i'm afraid taking it out coz it might just get worse considering the tiny parts inside....what do you think sir? thank you in advance & god bless...