D-Link DWLG-122 USB connectivity problem

I purchased a DI-524 router and DWLG-122 USB Wireless adapter togther and was able to set up the router easily. I had no problem picking up the wireless signal on my laptop anywhere in the house, but when I attempted to install and use the USB adapter it will not work.

I've installed the latest firmware update, but it still reports that it cannot find a wireless network, even though my laptop is sitting right next to it and reports that the signal strength is excellent.

I've uninstalled and reinstalled numerous times without ever having the USB adapter pick up the signal.

The people I've talked to on the tech support line were very difficult to understand and I have a hard time believing that this can be that difficult as it should be a straightforward plug and play type of solution.

I have not changed any factory defaults so I'm thinking this may be a hardware failure.

I'm running XP Pro w/ SP2. I've tried connecting using both XP's Wireless Config and w/ the D-Link config w/o any success. It's not even "seeing" the network, let alone configuring it.

The D-Link utility icon is just white bars and it's bombs almost immediately when I search for wireless networks. My laptop saw it and connected immediately right away so it can't be signal strength or encryption.

My next step is to borrow a different USB adapter from a friend who no longer uses theirs to see if that would make any difference.

I don't think it's firewall related as it doesn't even get that far along in terms of trying to connect to the net.

Do USB adapters generally require any changes to work right out of the box?

Any help would be much appreciated as I'm at my wits end as to why this isn't working.