Thank you Herr Kuhman!

That's good to know about the high speed burns. I wish I had researched more before buying from the first seller I saw online.

I am a novice to self-directed computer repair so I have a couple of elementary questions.
-Setting up an FTP server-
Can I do this if my destination drive is just an external hard drive? Or do I need a computer with certain requirements?
Do you have a tutorial on how to set up the FTP server?

I will also contact IBM/Lenovo and see if they will sell me the CD though I am not under warranty anymore. I will write back with results.

Thank you so much for your advice.