On many/most/all thumb drives there is a tiny LED light, do you see it with yours? Right click Start click Open Windows Explorer In the new window look down the left side for your thumb drive, possibly showing as the F drive. When you insert the thumb drive is there an audible signal? When you remove it is there an audible signal? What happened when you visited the link Zep provided? Simply saying you tried everything is not helpful, a more detailed reply could help considerably. Chuggerguy asked if you daughter had a Mac or Linux program. Does she? Did she format the thumb drive? These are normally formatted in FAT format.

I clicked on the link in the other thread. The page is Java driven, so they have to make sure they have Java. There are two different Java downloads. So sorry that I cannot remember the difference between them or their individual purposes. If I'm not mistaken, there are Java Script and Java Runtime Environment, but don't hold me to those. I found it very confusing but was able to get them both downloaded. That was many months ago, so I don't remember. After you get them downloaded, you want to make sure to enable them in your browser. Tools > Internet Options > Advanced tab Here's a pic of mine

With my experience the three top laptops (notebooks, actually) are, in no particular order, Toshiba, IBM and Apple. Apple of course is much more expensive. Toshiba is by far the best value out there for quality and price. IBMs are pricy too. I avoid Dell, Gateway and Compaq like the plague. HP has improved since they're trying to put their notebooks back at a higher level now that they took over Compaq, they leave the Compaq as the low-buck line. Dell has gone back to having different levels so if you want to spend a lot more to get something with a Dell name you can get something decent. I just can't justify to most of my clients to spend the money when they can get far better value with a Toshiba. I have two and couldn't be more pleased. The one is a year old and the other is about 6 years old with hard use. Desktops can't be compared to notebooks. I still far prefer a custom built desktop from a competent builder over any of the mass-produced junkboxes. The cost isn't much more but the value is far more. All that said, even the lower quality units can be OK if you take proper care of them.

OK here's another suggestion without changing out the front windows. I do love that large window and I think it will help with light into the kitchen. I extended the foyer wall and moved the stove to that wall. I moved the opening from the hallway up a bit and added the fridge there with about 3" of room on the end so the fridge door opens. The sink is in the same place it was. Didn't move it. Moved the dishwasher to between the sink and the fridge. Shortened the island. It's now 6' long and will seat 3 comfortably. Moved the prep sink over a bit so you can put things on the end of the island before washing. So now you have two excellent spaces for prepping food. Or if it were me, I'd probably ditch the prep sink on the island and leave the island "bare" and instead get a large prep sink like the Kohler Prolific. It's about 45" long and if you put two faucets on it, 2 people can work at it at the same time. BTW: You can also get a dining table that is wider than 36".