I am trying to install ndiswrapper from the cnr client in linspire 4.5 and it stalls. at the end of the error messages I am getting "+ ------------------------------------------ + ------ + --------------- +
| Description | Status | Completion Time |
+ ------------------------------------------ + ------ + --------------- +
| Reading Package Lists... | | |
| Building Dependency Tree... | | |
| E: Couldn't find package ndiswrapper | | |
+ ------------------------------------------ + ------ + --------------- +
How could I correct this and how could I verify it is working correctly after I get it installed.

It looks like the your ether not connecting to the repository or the repository has not got ndiswrapper. You could download ndiswrapper from another source and install it from a local drive.