ok so right after i posted this i decided to look through the phone for a problem.... i went into the phone settings->connections->usb to pc... the box for (enable anvanced network functionality) was checked... i unchecked it and the activesync noise went off on my pc and the damn thing connected...... do you think the phone was connecting before while it was checked?..... or did the phone somehow check that box on its own causing it to not connect earlier today?...... i have to tell you i never had this much of a headache with my treo 600 or 650...... there are so many features, functions, and optoins of this phone that the manual tells you nothing about....