Clip+ player frozen - cannot set up player

Hi.  I just bought a Clip+ based on reviews.  I followed the instructions on the Quick Start Guide and got to Step 1 (“Charge your Sansa Clip+ MP3 player, then disconnect it”).  The battery did not even completely charge (it’s at about 3/4 charge).  My computer (Windows XP for a few more weeks) doesn’t recognize it.  From one thing I read, I thought it might need a firmware update.  Unfortunately, I cannot do anything.  I hold the Power off/on button for 20+ seconds to reset the player, but nothing happens.  Thinking it might be locked, I held the Home button for 20 seconds.  Nothing happens.  Any suggestions?  I am definitely a newbie, but must admit I’ve never run into problems so early when trying to set up something like this.  It just doesn’t seem like it’s that difficult, so I must be missing something basic.  Thanks in advance.

Just to cover the bases, you first removed the plastic static-cling screen protector, right? This is so realistic a lot of people think it’s the actual screen when it’s not. That could give you a false sense of battery level.

How long did you let it charge? If it starts up, navigate to Settings > Systme Settiings > USB Mode and switch it from the default Auto Detect (commonly referred to here as Auto Defect) and switch it to MSC Mode. Now try pluygging it into your computer and see if it’s recognized.

Since you used WIndows XP, that might not be providing you with accurate results. Try to plug this in on a Windows 7 or 8 computer. My guess is that it would recognize this. 

This has nothing to do with XP.

XP recognizes the Clip just fine, particularly in MSC. 

The Clip’s Auto Detect USB Mode goes to MTP if Windows Media 10 is on the computer.  Otherwise–for older Windows Media Player, for Apple, for Linux–it goes to MSC. 

The earliest XP, way way back,  had Windows Media Player 9.  So that would connect as MSC. If Windows Media Player was then updated, and the Clip remained in Auto Detect, anything that had been sent  via MSC would not be visible to the computer.

But the computer would still recognize the unit. Something else is going on here.