problem with wireless card

[MICHAEL WEAVER]

Yesterday someone quite experienced in the technical field had a look at my 
laptop to find out why I couldn't make a wireless connection.
He found that he could log into my system after booting but for some reason 
when he tried to do something and he was asked for my password it wasn't 
accepted.
I had upgraded from Hoary to Breezy using the CD so I am wondering if I had 
an upgrade issue which might be causing problems as regards my connecting to 
the Internet using my Raylink wireless card.
He seemed to think that something called Pan might be missing.
Could this be why I am having all this trouble with my wireless card which 
is causing it not to be able to communicate with the server at Vox Bar which 
is the place where I attend my Linux User Group?
It was suggested I take my Breezy Badger CD to my next meeting but I don't 
know if I will have to do a fresh install or just an upgrade again to get 
the missing files if files are missing or corrupted.
My Laptop is a bit redundant at the moment until I can get Ubuntu to work 
with speech.