Hi, I have a pcmcia wireless card working using ndiswrapper, well sort of!. If I login to gnome desktop I get the gnome keyring window, when I enter the password the wireless card connects and I can access the internet.

But if I logout and start a KDE session the card does not connect, the wireless manager picks up my network but it says it is "out of range".

One:
Neither Gnome or KDE Desktops are not required for networking period, wired or wireless.

Two:
As root create a file called keys-wlan0 in the directory /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts. This file has your key in either hex form or ascii form:

Hex: 0123456789ABCDE
ASCII: s:mypasswordhere

Three:
Please read; man iwconfig

Four:
KWiFiManager Menu Bar-->Settings-->Configuration Editor

Yes, I know.

The file already exists with the hex key.

Configuration editor contains the settings it just won't connect, well not when I use a KDE session.
Can you think of anything else? I am a complete newbie to linux,

Yes, check the /etc/modprobe.conf file for something like;

alias wlan0 ndiswarpper

Also check/edit the /etc/sysconfig/network-scripts/ifcfg-wlan0 file for:

ONBOOT=no
ONHOTPLUG=yes
USERCTL=yes

The ONBOOT setting could be yes instead, but you may get an error at boot time if the device is not present.

Please adjust for your actual hardware configuration (eth1 or whatever instead of wlan0) in the file checking above. In (some very) rare cases you might have to insert the pcmcia/cardbus card twice in order for it to be recognized and used.