MaridAudran: Yes, they have mountains of the ordinary peripheral CD/DVD drives you connect through an IDE or SATA cable in your desktop computer to the motherboard. But I'd need to buy a specific type of compatible internal optical drive that would meet my laptop's manufacture standards, and have it installed. Both of these things would be pricey (I checked online what they go for new wholesale, just the component shipped to you), especially the second part of that equation by enlisting the aid of the techs in my local computer repair shops. They tend to be arrogant and charge exorbitant rates for even mundane repairs and I dislike dealing with them. I imagine between the new internal optical drive and paid installation would be at least half the cost of what my laptop is now worth on resale.

I use an external DVD drive on my laptop; it's reasonably priced and serves that function well, the problem is that I can't boot from it the way I *could* boot from BIOS from the (now dead) internal DVD drive.

haxorfox: I use Window 7 64-bit operating system on my desktop computer and Debian on my laptop.

GameRager: How is the 64 bit with regards to running Dosbox or Dosbox frontends and their games?

GameRager: Also does anyone know about the whole 16bit not working thing on 64bit OSs? Does 16bit just include Dos games or did some 95/98 OS games run as 16bit exclusively?

Arteveld: DOSBox runs just like on a 32bit system. I don't use frontends, but i bet they work.

Arteveld: No, 16 bit apps wont work. You need dowbox [if they're dosbased], or a VM for that. I think WET [yeah, the Lula game] was a 16bit app. With most of those 16bit games, they're so old, they'd probably need a WINBox anyway.
The only problem i've run into with win7x64, was the x64 display driver that didn't like Dungeon Keeper 1. I've managed to run it on x32.

GameRager: Sounds good.....

Arteveld: Why the dots then?;P

It's a new system, old stuff may not work. The lack of legacy support on the PCs saddens me, but what can i do, buy an EFIKA? ;P
Anyhow, most things work.
Perhaps it'd be best to test the x64 on a VMbefore going full speed ahead with it. ;)

Miaghstir: Most preinstalled laptop drives are common slim drives you can find pretty much anywhere, just with a special adaptor mounted to fit in their proprietary port. Remove the adaptor (and mounting bracket if it has one) and mount it on the new drive. There you go, a new working drive in the machine (albeit without whatever specially designed door that may have been on the old one to make it flush with the case, nothing that affects the functionality of the drive though).

I had to shave off a corner of the new drive's door though as I installed it in my Thinkpad a few years ago, easily done with a segment blade knife or side cutter.

Here's a selection of drives off newegg.

MaridAudran: Pretty helpful info; I had no idea. What's the difference between slim drives out there? From the page you linked, wherein lies the $100-dollar difference betwixt the Samsung and the HP drive?

I'm a medium-level tech-head. I don't work in IT but I enjoy doing my own upgrades and installing my own hardware into PCs. I've never done anything to a laptop before, however. How difficult will this be? I use a 3-year-old Toshiba Quosimo.

MaridAudran: Pretty helpful info; I had no idea. What's the difference between slim drives out there? From the page you linked, wherein lies the $100-dollar difference betwixt the Samsung and the HP drive?

I'm a medium-level tech-head. I don't work in IT but I enjoy doing my own upgrades and installing my own hardware into PCs. I've never done anything to a laptop before, however. How difficult will this be? I use a 3-year-old Toshiba Quosimo.

Miaghstir: OEM - regarding hardware - usually means you don't get a huge box, manual, driver disc, or cables to connect it to the rest of the computer, you're supposed to have that or get from elsewhere. Neither of which isn't necessary for laptop drives (there are no cables, and Windows recognises the drive by default).