said by AliceZ :

Thanks.
Re your "How do you have your wireless network setup? Here are some general wireless security guidelines that you may be interested in..."

I mentioned in my original post the following and wonder if that is what you were referring to:

We are using Verizon DSL that is connected to our desktop (which has WinXP).
We are using modem/router and the notebook is connected wirelessly (I believe that is what it is called) to it.