The wi-fi card has its own software
My experience is that it's usually more reliable to ONLY install the minimal driver subset from the manufacturer and let Windows XP manage the wireless entirely via WZC.
My usual process is to NOT install any manufacturers software at all and see if Windows Update finds something suitable.
If it does I leave it at that.
If not I try to find the minimal driver install from the manufacturer and then again, let Windows Update see if it finds anything later/better.
If the manufacturer only supplies a big "package" I always try to find a way to uninstall or disable their management tools; there's usually at least an option to switch to WZC.