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And, to avoid having to re-install Windows on this computer, it might be time to think about making an image backup of the current working installation so you could restore that if necessary.

The DNS Server change, if you did that first, is likely what fixed it. The NetBIOS over TCP/IP should not have been a problem, but you never know. The Service Packs would have fixed a few issues...

Pinging 127.0.0.1 won't tell you anything useful - that is always your computer.

If you are getting lost packets when pinging Google or Yahoo, that is a problem.

That traceroute is going...

Try this instead:

tracert www.google.com > tracert.txt

It should create a tracert.txt file in whatever folder path you see listed after the C: in the Command Prompt window.

What error did you get when you tried to to install the Service Packs?

If you downloaded the service pack .iso files, you would need to make the discs from them before you could install them.
...

Did you try changing the DNS Server?

If you decide to reinstall again, make sure to save the drivers you downloaded to a removable drive first, so you can reinstall them. Otherwise you will just...

Links:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tjSpBBkMiwY

http://www.computingunleashed.com/how-to-setup-use-google-public-dns.html
...

You could try changing the secondary DNS Server to either 8.8.8.8 or 8.8.4.4 to see if the works.

Possibly useful links:

http://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/04/product-support/product/dimension-4550/drivers

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/desktop/f/3514/t/19481698

For the internet connection issue, check the Gateway and DNS Server settings. Make sure that they are the same as the ones on the working XP system.

For the VirtualDr user name issue, see post #2 here:

http://discussions.virtualdr.com/showthread.php?271969-Cannot-log-in