out of range network connection problem

Hi all,

This afternoon my dell 700m's wireless card decided it doesnt want to connect and get an IP from my router.
The wired port works fine but the wireless connects, tries to get an IP and then fails, saying "network out of range".
I'm using Intel's pro wireless software to connect (intel 2915abg card- 5 years old).
I also notice its not auto connecting right away on start up now.

The router seems fine, its log does show some "pae disconnect" type entry when the laptop tries logging in.
My nintendo wii and ipod connect via wifi just fine so I don't think its the router.

I've had some spyware/trojan issues lately but was convinced that was cleaned up earlier and been having no problems the last week.
Any ideas?

TIA