I had a Dell Inspiron laptop that died last year, the hard drive locked up. I bought it about 3 1/2 years ago and it had Windows XP on it.

Someone gave us a Compaq Presario (I think that's the model) that has Windows ME on it. We just bought a wireless router and wireless notebook card and the card isn't compatible with Windows ME. Is there any way for me to take the CD (I'm guessing it came with a CD with Windows XP in case I had to reload) that came with my Dell laptop and load it on the Compaq? If so, any tips?

Thanks in advance for any help!!

It won't work... if you get it to install somehow, the product key won't work. That key is tied to Dell.

Thanks! What about Linux? Do you think the wireless notebook card would work with that?

It will, but you have to know a bit about how to get it working because most distros don't recognize it seamlessly.

you will have far less in the way of headachs by just buying a new install disk for your system. I had bought a dell only windowsXP disk over the net, (third party) which worked fine, but it was a ( lot ) with numbers that would clear through windows when it came time to activate. In your case it was for a DELL install only disk that had never been cleared for use on anything but DELL, if I am understanding you wright, and if that's the case, ( BUY NEW ), and save yourself the wear and tear.