Lost the ability to Network and also add new networking cards

I was using a thinkpad 600 and a dlink wireless card. worked fairly well for
about a year. I stayed up to date with all patches and virus detection
software. I got a BSD then the wireless card stopped working. I tried re
installing (I would get a message that the card could not find any free I/O).
I tried disabling everything I wasn't using. I tried deleting everything and
letting the system find new hardware. I tried reinstalling ME (the closest I
got was the card was detected and installed - LEDs working then It asked to
reboot to finish up and then NADA). I then tried connecting via a xircom
Pocket adapter - parallel port always worked before. The diags for the
adapter would find it and it would test out ok but I could not install
networking (TCP/IP). I then tried a XIrcom PCMCIA card ... also worked
before... Nothing can't install the card properly It is not detected
correctly. I try installing by "hand" still doesn't work. - I am at a loss.
(New OS or a new notebook aren't really an option at the moment)
Thank you