The notebook's external storage options include a LS-120 SuperDisk drive (which also supports 3.5-inch floppy disks), a CD-ROM drive, a DVD ROM drive and hard disk drive options of up to 20G bytes.

CNN: Panasonic introduces 'tough' notebook PC

We test each drive with a Micron 433-MHz Celeron system equipped with 64MB of SDRAM, a 10GB hard disk, and a DVD-ROM drive.

CNN: Top 5 CD-rewritable drives

Here's how to create a boot disk that does let you access the CD-ROM drive.

CNN: Top 50 Windows tips

You can create a boot disk in Windows 95 using the same procedure, but the disk won't give you access to your CD-ROM drive, which is necessary if you have to reinstall Windows.

CNN: Top 50 Windows tips