[remote desktop dumping user back to welcome screen]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/279656

Simple as that...

I know there is another way... looking it up now

http://www.windowsdevcenter.com/pub/a/wind...ons.html?page=2

[laptop driver for windows xp]

Have you tried the driverpacks and one of the driver installers like driverforge?

Exactly, that is what I would do. Check out www.driverpacks.com, download the driverpacks and create a slipstreamed XP which will contain loads of drivers.

[XP-Pro]

It's very easy to do actually, On the Windows XP PRO CD there is an application called SYSPREP. Its located in the DEPLOY.CAB file in the SUPPORT\TOOLS folder. SYSPREP basically strips all drivers and unique identifiers from the system. Essentially it's the same tool most OEMs use to "Repackage" a PC for redistribution.

If that fails simply perform a windows repair using the XP CD when your old hard drive is transfered to the new one. I have performed many "upgrades", the easiest and most basic was just to perform a repair. Keep the old casing as you will need the XP license on it...

This is my 1st post so please be gentle