Restored Computer, Missing Drivers, Cannot Connect to Internet

Doing things blindly is probably not the best option, but short of having someone with some familiarity with computer components look inside your computer (or asking your friend for the make & model of the wireless adapter), the following is about all I can think of to suggest.  The problem is that although other manufacturers of wireless adapters use the same Ralink 2860T chip that's in the WMP600N (for example, this Rosewill RNX-N300X b/g/n wireless PCI adapter), it's not at all clear that they will all use the same driver provided by Ralink or if they will modify the driver to deal with additional hardware they have included in their products.

First, just so things are clear, what you would be looking for is something like this:

Linksys WMP600N

or, because you have 3 antennas, this:

D-Link DWA-552

Do the following with the understanding that it may work, work partially, or not at all.  You really should make an effort to determine the make and model of your device.

Right click on the "Network Controller" in the other devices category.  If it has an option to "Update driver software" (or something similar), select that and follow the directions at the Linksys article I mentioned earlier.

In the other devices category I have Multimedia Audio Controller, Network Controller, and Video Controller (VGA Compatible).  I looked inside the case and frankly It's kind of a mess in there. I looked around on the inside where the antenna come out the back and I didn't see anything that resembled a model number or even a card.

Sorry.  This was my error.  Because it has no drivers, the device with the antennas (your wireless network adapter) is in the "Other devices" category rather than the Network adapter category.  Your conversation with Xircal started along the road to identifying it, but you got sidetracked with the discussion about the motherboard.

The 3 antennas definitely suggest that you have a wireless adapter.  However, the Linksys WMP600N only has two antennas ... so that's not what you have.  Nevertheless, it's possible that the drivers for that device will work with your adapter because they apparently have the same chip.  It would be better, however, to get the driver that is specifically intended for the hardware that you have.

The "1394 Net Adapter" is a FireWire adapter.  This is hardly used any more.  It was Apple's attempt to provide an alternative to USB.  LINK

The "NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet" is the Ethernet adapter (built into your motherboard).

Neither of the above is a wireless adapter.

Please list all of the items in the "Other devices" section of Device Manager. 

I don't know if Device Manager will provide enough information about the "other devices" to identify the make and model of the wireless adapter.  When you said that you couldn't confirm that you had the Linksys adapter, did you open the computer case and look at the card?  If not, that's the best way to identify it -- there should be a label somewhere on the card. 

If all else fails, perhaps you could call your friend and ask what type of wireless adapter he installed.

There are three antennas sticking out of the back but i don't have something resembling Linksys wireless adapter.  The ones I do have are 1394 Net Adapter and NVIDIA nForce 10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet.

Do you have antennas sticking out of the back of your computer?  If no, don't bother going forward.

Go to Device Manager (Start > Run > devmgmt.msc > OK)

Expand the Network adapters section by clicking the + at the left.

What do you see listed in that category?

If you see an entry that appears from its name to be a Linksys wireless adapter, it probably has an exclamation point warning next to it indicating that the driver is not installed.

Assuming that you found a Linksys wireless adapter in Device Manager, follow the directions in this document --> http://kb.linksys.com/Linksys/ukp.aspx?pid=80&app=vw&vw=1&login=1&json=1&docid=172a744507eb42a4b232edbd5673c478_4873.xml  (when you get to that document, click the link "Installing the driver" and then click the link for XP).   The folder that you want to point the driver to is

     X\WMP600N_XP_3.2.7_WHQL\WMP600N_XP_3.2.7-WHQL\WinXP2K

where X is the place that you extracted the downloaded zip file.  For example,

     C:\Documents and Settings\Sam\Desktop\WMP600N_XP_3.2.7_WHQL\WMP600N_XP_3.2.7-WHQL\WinXP2K