Hey Jason!
after 3 weeks (well..it was to UK! haha) just got my flirc and I too am getting no connection error as described above by tomick & papreston :-(
Desktop Windows 7 Pro 64 bit USB 2 ports - tried all - installed flirc 0.96 and flirc dongle shows in device manager.
Will try a Dell VIsta laptop thats around somewhere :-)
happy to test!
cheers bro
Dok