I had to do a fresh install of XP_SP3 Pro OEM on an old Toshiba (2003) with new HD a few months ago. Those older machines seem to be notorious for failed DVD drives and they can't boot from a USB thumb drive either. Here's the somewhat convoluted method I employed to get the job done. I downloaded the 8 floppy boot CDs from Microsoft for SP2. They won't work for XP_SP3. It seems they didn't produce any for SP3. I found a copy of XP_SP2 and installed that starting with the floppy boot CDs. I could then plug in an external DVD drive from within the newly installed XP_SP2. It was then possible to install XP_SP3, that had had the latest security patches integrated, starting from within Windows using the external drive. It's messy and time consuming but it worked. The new HD made the machine quicker than it had been. Here's hoping this might help you.
@ skylark thanks for reply but ctocco said it is a Dell inspiron mini it should be able to boot from bootable usb thumbdrive easily.
Thanks. I should have read the original post more carefully and noted that the server was the Toshiba.
think if i was in ctocco's position especially if doing repair installs i would borrow or invest in external cd/dvd drive they don't cost much nowadays.