Well, the driver installation always requires administator rights to complete the install. However, the driver should be available to any mortal user to configure. I just tried it with a W2Ksp4 laptop and a DLink DI-650 card. As an ordinary user (non-administrator rights), I can add new wireless connections, connect to a new network, and tweak existing settings. However, when I dive into the control panel, and try to tweak the driver settings for the card, it shows me the settings but does not allow me to change them. Methinks that's the way it should be. Users can use the hardware, but cannot make changes to the installation. I'm not sure if your unspecified model USB "stick" works the same way, but it's highly likely.