Quote:
sometimes when I open up Emplode and the player is highlighted when I click ok it tells me that the player doesn't appear to be connected but it is plugged in via usb.

That is definitely this problem.

See if solving that problem also solves your crashing problem, too.

Make sure that you have put software version 2.0 final on the player, and that your Emplode version is also 2.0 final.
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Tony Fabris