embarrassingly enough (especially for my IT team), i discovered my wireless switch was turned off all this time. computer works just fine. 
I recently received a new laptop for work, which came with Vista home edition. Our IT department switched to XP Professional (they don't support Vista) and as a result, the wireless function does not work. The IT intern has been researching drivers in the hope that he'll find the right one, but nothing works. Does anyone have advice on where to find the correct driver or what needs to be done? Will this problem ever be resolved or should I expect not to use this laptop with wireless connections? Would an external wireless device work?   
Inspiron 13 not connecting to wireless