This is the trap most inexperienced people fall into. They believe that Windows comes with this huge library of drivers and all they have to do is run the install. As you've found, it's a bit more complicated than that.
With XP support set to expire in about 4 months, I would just write the whole thing off as a lesson learned in the need to be prepared when attempting a clean Windows install. The end of support for XP will be like a starter pistol for all the ne'er do wells of the Internet who have been sitting on known exploits for just that occasion, when Microsoft finally washes its hands completely of XP and those foolish enough to still be using it will be on their own. There seem to be a lot of people who are confused and think that Microsoft's decision to extend support for their Security Essentials product is some kind of extension to the support for XP itself. It's not. Come D-Day, Microsoft will not be supplying any more patches to Windows XP to fix security issues. There will be an 18-month reprieve for protection against viruses and malware that Security Essentials helps protect against, though based on most of the reports that have come out lately it does a pretty poor job of it. So, you have some protection against malware and viruses, but if something is exploiting a flaw in the OS code, all XP users are on their own.
If you haven't managed to activate the copy of Windows yet, you can try getting a refund under the EULA terms. I wouldn't hold my breath on that front, but you may get lucky. Otherwise, just eat the cost and think of it as tuition for learning about the pitfalls of trying to install Windows yourself. If your laptop isn't able to handle Vista or Windows 7, give Linux a go.