Just a quick update FWIW: I managed to identify the wifi adaptor: Intel PRO/Wireless LAN 2100 3B PCI and found the driver directly from intel:

Downloads for Intel® PRO/Wireless 2100 Network...

You're right. I managed to find the USB disc within the HDD and changed the boot sequence such that it's booting form the USB PRIOR to HDD. Tx for the tips.

One quick question: Do I have to do anything special to make the USB bootable? I did the media creation on a normal USB then tried to boot off it but no luck... Not sure if I have to do it the...

Well, I managed to figure out the BSOD, by turning off the Speed Step in the BIOS and got win7 to install without a glitch. When I tried to go further by upgrading to win10, I got stopped out cold...

Ok Gents, armed w/ an win10 install USB created as per this link AND an win7 clean-install DVD, I tried my luck again this past weekend:

1st off, this machine is SO old that it doesn't even seem...

I made sure I was looking at the 32bit installer... Tx for the reminder though.

Yes the intention is that once the install is successful, I'll purchase additional license for this laptop such that at least, it'll be used with full support and proper licensing.

Thanks for the great pointer. Will let you know if I have any success.

Very clear. Crossing my fingers that win10 should hopefully be backward compatible w/ my 10yr+ old laptop in terms of drivers... Thanks!

That's a great idea! I might just do that if I failed to get win10 or even win7 to install... Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks for your response. The intention of installing win10 is NOT mainly for added functionality. More like I fear that XP is so out dated & vulnerable that it might actually cause more hassle...

I'm planning to give away to local charity my old trusty Samsung X10 Laptop installed w/ win XP. Knowing that it's completely out-dated and lacks any support whatsoever, I fear that it might produce...