Go buy a CF card reader that works with either USB 2.0 or Firewire. Plug that into your computer and then just load up the card without connecting the camera to the computer. It's faster, and much more convenient. It also doesn't eat up your camera battery power. It only costs around $30-40 and is well worth it.
The CF card will mount to your computer just like a hard drive, and then you can copy to and from it.
