hm...been a while since i started this thread but i just wanted to tell everyone that i found the soulution, haha, its was pretty stupid. Inorder for me to use a usb key was to turn off my computer and then stick it in and boot it up again, anyways i searched the internet for some answers and i found out that it was because my version of windows 2000pro was service pack 3, and i need service pack 4 inorder for me to use it when my comp is on...anyways odd, never thought of it, until i went to the ibm website anyways thanks for everyone who tried to help.