I had this same problem last night. I have had one BP stop working,so when I got this message I was worried. In my case, the unit had to be rebooted and the batteries changed, I had just been transferring some files. Also, the first thing it said that I didn't take note of was that bookport could not create the new folder I wanted it to. That should have been my first clue, but I wasn't thinking. I changed the batteries, after rebooting the unit and it was fine. I hope it will be true in your case, but I doubt it, since you have probably done all those things. The main way you can tell if the unit is shot is that it will not be recognized as a separate device when you plug it in. If you hit programs and bookport and it doesn't react or says it is not connected, you are in over your head and on the way to sending it back. I hope you got it working, I know I hate to send stuff like that back. Kurt