I can see this is going to be difficult. I can see as yet you have not developed a huge amount of patience, which you will need for this product.

Also, why do you need to get "files out of it" rather than put music on? You wouldn't be up to something naughty, would you?

As yet, I still have not got a clue what the problem is as you have managed to avoid giving a description that provides any info.

It seems:

- you have the correct USB drivers in place for the RIO, but are they the correct ones for your OS? There is one driver for XP, and another for the rest.

- can you actually run emplode, the upgrader wizard, etc. on you Windows machine? If so, then they are properly installed. Make sure you have the 2.0 or later version of the software for the PC installed. Have you attempted to make a serial connection with terminal software to the machine with something like HyperTerm (at the correct settings)? The settings are 115k 8N1 no handshake.

- if emplode runs, have you checked under the options box on the Connect dialogue box that comes up when the program starts and searches for players that you want it to look on USB? If this is not selected, it won't do it.

Try and put down here what PC set up you have: which version of host PC software you have installed: the version and type of player software you have on the player unit: and the type and serial number of the player. Also, see if you can identify the installed USB drivers on your PC, so we can check if they are the right ones for the OS you are using.

All of this is in the FAQ, which is as close as a user manual as you are going to get for something as complicated as this. This means a little patience on your part - RTFM, I'm afraid.