0x000000D1 DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL <-- Ha ha, I killed this stop error!!
After three plus hours of intense upgrading (not to forget the love and support from forum, support group, and the like; a quick Googling returns a handfull of them), the Win XP Pro edition is finally up and running on my computer. I also purchased and installed the legal "student edition" of the Office XP, finally.