Use external hdd to install linux onto netbook

[Rwac]

I dont have a large enough USB pen drive on me.

I need to install a distro onto my netbook.

I have an external hdd, which i've created a small partition on for the install files.

N.B I do not want to install linux onto the external hdd, i just want to use it to install linux onto the netbook as it does not have an optical drive

 

[BigglesPiP]

Which distro.

There's often a netinstall option, 256MB drive would be enough.