Dell XPS 400 - dvd drive doesn't read

Hey Everyone!
I have a Dell XPS 400 and the dvd drive (hl-dt-st dvd+-rw gsa-h21n) can't read or pick up dvds or cds. I want to reinstall the OS but how can I do that with a broken dvd drive?
BTW, when I first got the computer, the OS was XP. I've upgraded to VISTA home premium. I've tried various boot up options, one of them being the cntl + F11, which doesn't work. F2, F8, and F12 doesn't give me a restore option either. Any other suggestions?
Thanks in advance!

If you want to reinstall the OS, shouldn't you be booting from the DVD drive, not from a Windows boot menu? Set the boot sequence in the BIOS, then put the CD in the drive and reboot.

Try replacing the drive you can get a dvd drive
for 25$ these days.

Also you must have a recovery partition in
order to recover vista in the way specified.

To check for a recovery partition goto

START>COMPUTER>and look for
FACTORY_IMAGE