If you are using a USB 1.1 cradle, it's not going to work with Vista x64. The USB 2.0 cradle can also be finicky. I think particularly the fact that you are using x64 is problematic, as it works reasonably well on Vista x32.
Sam is right, the easiest fix is to install Windows XP. You can easily run a dual-boot XP/Vista configuration to avoid a lot of the hassles caused by Vista.