I feel your pain cus my (former) windows laptop would NOT keep the WEP key and always ask for it. I would place it in my copy buffer and paste it all the time but for some reason it just wouldn't store the WEP key. Pissed me off so much that I just decided to install Linux on the laptop and everything has been running perfect! Amazing that Linux actually surpases windows for me in terms of ease of use.
Sorry for OT...anyways WinXp recommends if your card is supported to use the built in Wireless settings in leiu of bundled software. I'm not totally sure but you will have to use one or the other, not both. Also, try placing the WEP key in your copy buffer to avoid any typo's (since the 128-bit or higher wep keys are pretty long).
Hope it works out for ya...
