1394, USB connections

HELP!
Connecting (over a course of a few months) 2 mobile phones and a DV camera to my XP machine have all produced the same symptoms:
1. "Found new hardware wizard" starts
2. Phone / camera shows up in Explorer
3. No other s/w recognises a connection is made e.g. proprietary phone management s/w
4. XP drops connection (complete with really annoying pings and pongs)
5. I swear really loudly
Both phones are connecting via USB and the camera is Firewire


Out of curiosity, I tried the newer phone on my old W2000 machine. Worked a treat. So it must be the XP machine being awkward.


It's XP Home edition SP2, FAT32, Athlon64 processor, 200GB free HD space and 512MB RAM. AMI V07.00T BIOS. Firewire connection appears OK in "Network Connections", other USB devices work OK (printers, digital camera). It makes no difference if I use the onboard Firewire ports or the ones on my expansion card.
Windows Firewall is disabled, F-Secure Internet Security 2005 provides for all security needs. F-Secure 2005 also on W2000 box although the settings may be different.
Can someone please help - it's getting on me nerves now! (Not with the pings and pongs - I am not that daft and can sort that bit myself)
Cheers,
Mac

If it is not a hardware problem (which it doesn't appear to be):

Then is it an XP problem or your: "3. No other s/w recognises a connection is made e.g. proprietary phone management s/w"?

Is this just one management program or do you have these issues with multiple programs?

2 different phone softwares (Motorola PhoneTools and Nokia Suite)
1 DV editing package