Hi acouty,
If you have purchased the system without any operating system you may install operating system using disk. To install Windows 7 using the disk, you may follow the steps below:
- Restart or turn on your computer.
- As soon as the Dell™ logo appears, tap <F12> until ‘One Time Boot Menu’ appears.
- Use arrow keys to highlight ‘CD/DVD drive’ and press <Enter>.
- Press <Enter> as soon as you see the message ‘Press any key to boot from CD’.
- For further information, you may refer to the link: http://bit.ly/14kVsYR.
After installing window, you may install the drivers from the ‘Drivers and Utilities’ disk shipped with the system or you may refer to the link: http://dell.to/10GaKAc, put the system service tag, click on submit to get the list of available drivers for your system. Please ensure you select the correct operating system.
You don’t need any external monitor. However, you may use external keyboard and mouse while installing Windows 7.
Please feel free to reply. I will be glad to assist further.