[Araucaria]

Thanks Eddie.

It's very difficult to see inside the USB port on the Kindle, but it looks OK - certainly no dirt or fluff. But it is hard to see all of the contacts. One side looks OK, while the other is almost invisible.

As I seem to have tried everything, I guess I'll just have to put up with a Kindle that can't be linked up to a laptop.

Amazon will let me send files to it by e-mail, though they seem to be messing around right now with the kind of files that are allowed.

What really puzzles me is why the laptop's inability to recognise the USB drive causes the Kindle to freeze (on the "USB Drive Mode" screen) and need rebooting. I have tried leaving it connected and then turning off the laptop: same results. And connecting it to a simple USB charger after it has frozen lets charging continue, but it is still frozen.

Thanks again for the suggestions.