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milemarker5
12-21-2003, 03:34 AM
Today was a good day. Finally got my 3g, 40GB to work with Windows XP Pro on a Dell x200 Laptop.

For the last few days, I tried all recommended workarounds from the forums to no avail. The Firewire on the Dell works great for everything else I own (external hard drive and video camera). iPod hated it and all I got was BSOD and my iPod frozen in a continual reboot mode until the battery drained. Seriously, every time I connected the iPod - BOOM - BSOD and reboot.

Finally and sadly, had to go buy a new PCMCIA Fire Wire card (Adaptec FireConnect AFW-1430 - $79 at CompUSA). First time I plugged in the iPod, everything worked as advertised. Downloaded my growing Library 1000 tunes without missing a beat. Was also able to back up my PC files using disk mode without a hitch.

Bottom line - it all comes down to the FireWire card - don't waste your time, spend a little money instead. The $79 seems cheap given the 20 or so hours I wasted trying to find a work-areound.

Only drag is that the PCMCIA doen't power/recharge the iPod and writing to the iPod is a serious battery drainer

All in all, lovin' life now.....!

david8613
12-21-2003, 09:11 PM
how long does it take to load your ipod before it dies, are you able to get all your songs on it before the batteries go...

milemarker5
12-21-2003, 11:44 PM
I could load my music Library (only 1,000 songs) in a short time, but fully charged battery took about a 40% hit. Killer was transferring other files from my laptop to back up my hard drive - took about 45 minutes for 4 GB. Nearly drained battery.