Just a little update...All my suspicions have been verified. An fresh clean xp pro install with SP3 is now in my laptop. And it's so fast. I can't believe that this is the same computer. It not one of those "it's only running fast because of the clean install things" I've already put all my crap on it and it's running like a champ. No problems with pro tools, I actually got to plug in my snowball mic for the first time, I can use Wavelab. This whole time it has just been, the computer that I could do certain things with, but not all that I wanted. Now I can do anything with it.
I did the whole nlite thing, and had trouble when getting to the part in the install where you type in the xp serial. The nlite thing seemed real cool, but I was actually able to get xp in the computer much better by just using an old Sp1 disc. Luckily I still had the install file of SP3 on my desktop. I had no problems, and I didn't even have to enter a sn with xp pro. If you have a laptop with vista on it...get it off of there. It sucks. It will cause you alot of trouble. I have been dealing with that for 7 months. I finally got pushed over the edge, and did something I should have done the very day I realized that this computer was not going to be fast enough for what I would like to occasionally use it for. XP