intel pro 2200bg - no available networks

greetings...

i got my new 600m a few weeks ago, and last week i decided to go out and try my luck with all the free
public access points here in town. so the first place i went, i clicked on "view available networks", but nothing
was found. so i messed around with settings, but no luck - and i restored the original settings.

so i tried the library, which purportedly also has a free access point. same issue. i had the "expert" there
look at it - nice guy, but didn't know anything beyond the basics, all of which i had already tried - disable
firewall, manually add a connection, etc.

so, i went to the local university, which has access points all over campus. still no luck. so, now i'm pretty
sure it's a configuration issue, not a network issue - though i guess it still could be a network issue.

so, i have an inspiron 600m. when i got it, i promptly wiped out the hard drive and installed winxp pro sp2.
installed the chipset drivers, then all the remaining drivers. the diagnostics say the card is present and working,
but i just can't find a network, nor do i get any sort of signal.

i set up a wireless network for my buddy's inspiron 5150 a little over a year ago, and it worked out of the box. i
sort of expected that with this card, too. seems something's wrong - maybe with the card itself.

any ideas? thanks for looking...