My brother has got a free (given by a mate) Windows 2000 Professional laptop. The specs are Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, Service Pack 4, 18GB hard drive (split into a 10 GIG partition for Windows and a 8 GIG partition for data), 391 MB RAM, not sure about the processor, and it some sort of Sony Vaio. It has two major and one minor issues:

Ethernet - The major issue we really want to fix is this; my brother currently uses a VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adapter between this home PC (XP, 512mb ram, 1.6 ghz) and the xbox 360, so he can use internet on it. We have been trying (and wondering) if it is possible to use the Ethernet cable to get the internet working on the laptop? If it is, could someone please show us a guide on how to do this?

DVD - There is a DVD drive on the laptop. However, Windows isn't picking it up (it isn't there in My Computer). if I select add/remove hardware through the control panel, it sees it; Hitachi DVD-ROM GD-S200. However, if I select it and go to next, I'm told that "The device is not working properly because Windows cannot load the drivers required for this device. (Code 31). I have tried uninstalling the dvd drive from device manager, so that ti is reinstalled automatically when I restart, but to no avail. I have also tried updating the driver through windows, but again, the problem persists. How can I fix this? I can transfer anything through my usb if that is needed.

USB - Inserting or taking out a USB when the computer is on causes the computer to freeze, the only way around this is to insert the usb when switched off and then start up, then turn off to take the usb out. Is there any way to fix this?

All help would be really appreciated (especially the first two problems), so thank you in advance,

In all honesty, I'd format and reinstall on that computer. A clean install may do it some good since it's a hand-me-down.

Yeah, I've posted around and a lot of people are saying the same. Problem is I don't have a cd for 2000. My bro got the DVD drive working through working in the registry, but even so, been thinking of putting xubuntu on there.