Quote Originally Posted by Harry Kuhman
I wasn't suggesting buying an entire new notebook. But if you think USB networking is acceptable, then shopping around for a wifi usb nic is an option if the one that you have happens to be based on a chip set that will not release it's specs. If your Compaq has a normal PCMCIA slot on it then I would go with a non-usb solution. But if you instead have the damn, faster but nobody makes anything for it, slot that HP is trying to replace PCMCIA slots with then you're up a creek there.
I don't think USB networking is acceptable, but my darn laptops built in card appears to be a no show. But thanks for the advice. I think I am going to explore some other type of live CD install. Until I've had a chance to try Linux for a while I don't feel like partitioning my hard drive for a dual boot.