Sounds like a faulty card.

 

Did you install the drivers first prior install the card in one of the PCI slots?

 

thanks AlbertLionHeart and tipstir. I checked other posts about the same problem and found one that mentions the prior install of the card like tipstir mentions, and I did do that. however, this was as per the instructions with the unit, so now I'm really confused. the instructions call for installing the card, then when the found new hardware wizard appears, insert the provided driver and utility cd-rom. after loading the driver, you load the utility. once the driver and utility, you're supposed to configure the wireless adapter. when this screen comes up it shows "card unplugged" and that's the end of that. should I try installing the driver first? one of the other posts mentions uninstalling the drivers, including cleaning out the registry and start menu. should I try that? thanks again for your help, it's much appreciated.

 

Yeah, like they said, I would try installing the drivers first if you can. Uninstall the current ones, take the card out, and install the drivers. Then do everything you need to configure the card and the like.