How do I connect to the internet on a Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop?

I have a Dell laptop originally owned by a school and for some reason when I plug in an ethernet cable I can't get an internet connection. I also get error message 769 "Either you specified a destination address that is not valid, or your remote server is down." It also has a Verizon gold card installed, but I don't know if that would affect it all.How do I connect to the internet on a Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop?The school should have flat lined the computer and left it like that before disposing of it. What do you mean by a Verizon gold card? Never heard of that. Anyway, why not just format the hard drive and install Windows. The message means the machine is still set up with the schools' network settings and is trying to connect to one of their servers. As I said, format and do a fresh install of Windows.How do I connect to the internet on a Dell Inspiron 4000 laptop?I say that there might be a problem with the cable or plug in on the computer, but I am not curtain. You should probably get a expert to figure this out instead of asking random people you don't know on yahoo answers that probably do not have a clue about your weird computer problem or the situation. Trust me after reading some financial and electronic questions and answers on here. =D