This cant be that complicated!
I have gametracker installed
i dont have special forces installed
do I need a patch?
I HAVE BATTLEFIELD 2 INSTALLED!
I UPDATED PUNKBUSTER!
JAVA?
what the hell am i missing?

Is GameTracker Lite running?

Do you have GSInGameService running in your task manager? (Windows)

Does GameTracker Lite show Battlefield 2 as detected?

Has clicking on the Join button ever done anything? ie. Pop up a little message in the web page, your browser prompted how to handle the link, etc.

Do you notice anything different in a different browser? (if so which browsers)

gtl is running in task and when i start windows it pops up
and it recognizes bf2 do i need explorer 8 as web browser?when i reun mpouse across join a little sign says join

yes GTLite is running as is GSingameservice also
clicking has done nothing
do i go to GTLITE AND DO SOMETHING IN SETTINGS?LIKE BATTLEFIELD 2 NAME

The join button should work across all desktop browsers. By the sound of your message, are you using a web browser older than IE8? Are you able to download a more modern web browser, like Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, or something IE9-11?

When you click the join button does it (or has it, if you checked do not show again) come up with a little window with the message:

Launch with GameTracker Lite!
To join games through your internet browser, you MUST have GameTracker Lite installed on your computer.

Don't have GameTracker Lite?
Click here to download!

Don't show this message again.
Join Game Server | Cancel

i have ie8 and it came up with the message so i loaded it AGAIN so now it starts the game but single player and i got firefox browser what am i doing ?

like i said i dont have special forces installed or any updates ?
do i need? In the game tracker lite server section should i install a servers ip address

You'd probably need the same updates / expansions as what the server you are joining has. I don't know enough about BF2 to be able to tell you.

The servers tab is your "favorites" and is only there for convenience.

If you have the Origin distro of BF2, you may want to review http://www.gametracker.com/forums/forum.php?site=1&post=346471#post346471

What you can check is in the Game Setup screen of the "Edit" menu, ensure that BF2 is setup correctly.