windows xp has my wireless card under an unknown tab when i open the hardware manager and the network connections foler is empty but will connect to the internet with a ethernet cable. I have run a scan for malware,spyware, and viruses and they all come back clean.please help.

Is your Wireless Zero Configuration service started and running in services?

Also a long thread here over 5 years from folks with the same problem. Looks like it's coffee time for you with a read of all the posts and see if you think if any of the suggestions would work for you.

http://www.softwaretipsandtricks.com/forum...lder-empty.html

Is the Network Connections service running?