Win 2000 built in wireless utility w/ a USB Wireless stick?

Running 2k on a older Laptop, running the manufactures (Ralink RT2870 chipset) utility for a USB wireless stick causes issues so I want to try using Windows wireless utility. Problem is, I can't find how to use it. I have it running under Services.

The supplied utility & drivers are installed, but I stopped loading the utility since it causes the PS2 mouse to stop responding as soon as the utility loads. The stick connects and does work, but I have no control over it without running the utility.

I tried another no name sticks software (the exact same stick, but under a different name) but it has a overly complex utility (and a newer driver), but it causes the Laptop to lock up completely.

I never used a USB wireless stick before and never used wireless anything in 2k when I use to run it 6 or 7 years ago. The Laptop isn't for me.

Does 2k have the ability to run a wireless device with its own utility as it does in XP, or is this because it is a USB stick, not a PCI card where the problem is?

 

It all depends on the specific usb adapter you buy and how compatible it is. Each different adapter will have different ways to work with the system.

 

Apparently 2k doesn't have the utility. The stick does run w/o their utility running at startup and also does work with the USB 1.1 bus even though the specs say it needs 2.0.