DELL wireless card stuck "Aquiring Network Address"

Did you install XP SP3? If not, do it now.

There are three different methods of converting from an ASCII WEP key to the Hex equivalent. When you upgraded the drivers, you apparently changed methods. You can make it work by using the WEP Hex key, which always works.

However, the correct method is to change your unspecified model wireless router to WPA or WPA2 encryption. This does not have the ASCII to Hex conversion nonsense, and is much better for security as WEP is easily cracked.

Don't bother. The problem is that Microsloth, in their infinite wisdom, decided that their wireless drivers do not require any connection progress indication. Although it says "aquiring network address" it really means "can't negotiate a suitable encryption key".

Some instructions on how to use various partition managers. You didn't have to reinstall everything just to change the partition size. There are various partition managers that will do it for you. As I recall (not sure), Disk Druid will resize the Windoze partition for you on installation.

Hi,

Thanks so much for all of this good information. I changed my wireless router to use WPA Personal. I then changed my laptop's wireless settings to use WPA Personal as well. I copied the key from the router's settings to the laptop's settings and it's all working flawlessly. Thanks again for this.

Cheers,

John Sebastian