My machine seems to enjoy restarting now when I plug a USB device into it. Webcam seems to be the main prob. Tryed all the obvious, anyone else ever had this prob?

tried changing the drivers?

also, you have many other USB devices attached? because a lot of devices that don't have their own power source can take more than the PSU supplies on that voltage and can either make the system a little unstable, or restart...

I'd go with power supply.

I have a USB modem connected to a very old PC and when it downloads large files (which are then written to teh hard disc of that PC) the USB status light on the modem flickers rather disturbingly, and occasionally drops the USB device altogether.

Time for a powered hub on my PC - maybe on your laptop, too.

Joe