ATHEROS WIFI ADAPTOR

i recently installed the atheros wifi usb adaptor to use with my daughters nintendo dsi and for some reason, its installed but cannot locate the icon that is supposed to show to activate it so it can be used can anybody help please

Do you mean the connection icon that you see by the clock on the task bar ? Assuming you do, it probably needs a box checking, so go into the control panel, go to Network Connections, and you should see the adaptor listed among the others, right click on the USB one and select properties, in the bottom left corner of the window that opens there should be a couple of check boxes, make sure the one thats says show on the task bar is checked, then save and exit your way out, hopefully that should do what you want. This is true of all OS's that I know, except Vista (and maybe windows 7) requires you to click on manage connections before you see the devices listed, hope this helps.