Sorry to hear that. I'm not connecting or disconecting firewire cable when PC is powered up (only do so safely when PC is OFF). Switching the camcorder on and off doesn't yet seem to be any trouble (and I'm hoping never will). I'm using a 4-4 firewire cable only. I will not ever use a 4-6 pin firewire cable ever again either just to be extra paranoid. I feel ya man. Hope you get yours all taken care off w/o it costing an arm and leg. I bought a used Sony D8 on eBay for $110.00, works fine. Cheaper than fixing old ones. They record and do everything else just fine, but I must use this new one to play back on PC Capture Aps as old ones still will not (once i-link is blown, they don't heal). I wish the camcorder manufactures would state these risks on the camcorders (I don't need the big sticker about the record lamp getting hot, warn me about the f'n i-link.