can i boot osx from external HDD ( internal one dead )

i am pretty sure that my internal hard drive is dead, and i was wondering if i could use an external hard drive to install leopard onto.

If so, what should the hard drive be formatted to ? If so what program should i use.
Does it matter if i use SATA or IDE?
Does the internal hard drive need to stay in the macbook or can i take it out?
( i know how to take it out)
What other stuff do i need?

Any instructions someone could provide?
i've been reasearching all day, really hoping someone here could help me out.


Also i have a white macbook from late 2006 .

plz plz plz

ps: i have two hard drives

1. Regular desktop 250 gig SATA hard drive
2. Laptop 80 gig ( i think ) IDE hard drive.

and i have a usb to connect either.

And i'll be doing all the formatting and stuff on my pc as i don't have access to another mac.

Plug in either drive via USB. Then put the leopard disc in and reboot. It is a simple install. Just select the drive and install. It is pretty easy to do.

i did that with both HDDs but i get some ticking noises after a while the disc is spit out.

i tried booting while holding C but that only led to a longer time for the disc to be spit out

i tired booting while holding option key but that also led for the disc to be spit out after a mouse pointer appeared.

After the disc is spit out i would get a blinking folder with question mark .

Well, your cd-rom should be able to read your leopard cd no matter what. have you used that leopard cd before?

ramoz said:

i did that with both HDDs but i get some ticking noises after a while the disc is spit out.

i tried booting while holding C but that only led to a longer time for the disc to be spit out

i tired booting while holding option key but that also led for the disc to be spit out after a mouse pointer appeared.

After the disc is spit out i would get a blinking folder with question mark
.

Click to expand...

Clean your optical drive with a cleaning kit and at the same time carefully clean your install DVD and then try again. If the same thing happens, either your optical drive is defective or the DVD is not the proper installation media for your machine.

Regards.