Wireless router: encryption question!

[~max~]

Hi! My friend just installed a wireless router for me, along with a USB wireless adaptor plugged into my laptop, as it wasn't wireless enabled. I have XP home, and I'm on Virgin broadband. Now, it's all working fine, except that the dongle's encryption disables itself everytime I switch the laptop off, and I have to manually enable it for it to be able to "talk" to my router. Why is that? Is there a way to lock it on encryption so it stays that way? I don't really want to leave my connection unsecured, so I want to be able to use the encryption automatically. I hope I have explained properly.....Many thanks in advance!

[~max~]

Thank you Neil! My connection is set to Default/ Automatic already apparently....and the Authentication type within the wireless configuration utility is set to Auto. There is a drop down menu showing Auto, Open System and Shared Key. Is auto ok, or do I need to change it to one of the others?

[ACtheTROLL]

WEP open system is what you need
the router should have a ssid - (just an identifier)
and a wep key - 10 hex numbers (0-9 +a-f ie a3f2e5b697)
open network places
look for wireless networks
chose yours .... it will ask you for a key - enter the same wep one as is in the router.

keep it simple use 64 bit wep (unless you are james bond it's good enough)

if still no joy ... it's the dongle
unfortunately compatibility is a bit of a minefield