We've all been there, but there aren't many shortcuts. OK, there's one: Wrap your laptop carefully in $100 bills and send it to me. Enclose a pre-paid return mailer and I'll send your working laptop back in a couple of weeks.
Alternatively, familiarize yourself with some of the basic Linux commands. Once you get past the confusion of what some of them mean, it makes it easier to understand why you'd want to do them. This is a favorite of mine:
http://homepage.powerup.com.au/~squa...nux_manual.pdf
The Fedora documentation is also very well-done. Give it a read, a little at a time. Look for things like installing software, RPMs and packages, kernel source and networking.
Here's the high-level summary of what you need to do and the order in which you'll need to do it:
Install the ipw2200 driver - that's the code your machine will need in order to see and talk to the wireless card.
Install firmware for the card - you need to know how to download it and where to copy it.
Load the driver, or module.
Configure the wireless settings - SSID, mode, security
Configure the network settings - obtain an IP address automatically, etc.
