How do I fix a computer with no functioning I/O devices?

"Wow, that's a tough one. Every suggestion I thought up requires either the USB to be working or the DVD to work.

I think you may be stuck getting a new DVD drive for the ThinkPad. You should be able to take it out of the laptop. Somewhere on it should be the model number of the DVD drive, which you could Google and see if you can find a replacement part online.

The only other option I could think of would be pulling the hard drive from the ThinkPad, putting it in an USB external enclosure, and hooking it up to a computer and then copy the files over to the harddrive. Based on the age of the laptop, I would assume that the harddrive is a 2.5"" IDE drive. Newegg.com has a bunch of enclosures that could do that for you."

"At this stage, I'd consider the machine almost a lost cause. There's only one option I can think of ...

I'm thinking that the state this machine is in isn't a ""wiped"" version of XP, it sounds like a retail clean install. (Most laptops would have included a ""system restore"" disc that brings you back to the fresh install, with all the drivers in place.)

Without a means of getting the drivers on the machine, you're hosed. You could try pulling the hard drive out of the laptop, plugging it into another machine (perhaps via an external hard drive ""dock"" -- you can get those at Fry's, MicroCenter, etc.), and then adding the files. That might get you where you need to be."