Ok, so I finally got my gear back after a show... (BTW system worked fine on yet someone else's laptop) I have set up another testing session, using a LED Mega Par as a test light, patched the DMX address/profile, plugged in the various components, dongle, waited a couple minutes, then started software. And yes, it appears the software is still in Demo mode. So I tried swapping out the USB cable, no difference. Tried the second available USB port on the laptop, no difference. However, I then tried plugging into the Hub port. I have my Surface Book laptop on it's hub in my office, (a brick accessory that keeps Ethernet Cat5 and USBs connected, with a single charging cable to the laptop). I tried plugging in the USB into the hub, and I got a connection and functionality. So its down to the two USB ports on the Surface Laptop... Any thoughts on why the loss of connection through these ports?