Totally new to LINUX, be gentle!

I bought a little old used PCG Z505LE just for email and very basic internet while traveling. The C drive OS was wiped due to licensing issues. The machine will only show the welcome flash, then shows "Operating System Not Found"; it will not recognize the external drives.
How will I be able to load LINUX without a resident operating system?m (No, it does not have the OS backup division on the hard drive as later models did).

Means to load: It came with an external floppydisc drive and I have a ZIP drive plus it's adapter card, and an external USB MadDog CD ROM drive. I have ethernet internet and USB flash drives. As I Said, it does not recognize the external drives.

The only solution I can see for that :

A ::

1 - take out the C drive
2 - plug it on a working computer
3 - do the installation

or..

B ::

The Bios Should recognize the USB port, unless it's broken. So first, check this.

> "Esc" key at the boot to access the Bios

If the Bios recognize your flashdrive usb key :

> download the USB bootable image of the OS you want to install
> and install by selecting the USB flashdrive as Boot option in the Bios

If not :

Check the USB plug (the one on the computer..)
If it works.. I guess..

Back on A ::

1 members found this post helpful.

Sorry my fault : try the 'del' or 'suppr' key instead

Same result.

since the pc has a floppy drive my guess it is too old to boot from usb. (but it is still worth knowing how to access the bios -- does it display something like 'hit f2 to enter setup' when you start up ?).

i think all that is left is a frankenstein install.

No other messages no matter what. Wonder if the hard drive is in? Oh well, a $40 electronic jigsaw puzzle.

You should try any key you can come up with..

I am not sure but I think every computer has a Bios : so you should be able to access it by a way or another...

If not, well I just see the A solution..