I can't get my laptop to recognize my BB. It will recognize is as a storage device but not as a blackberry so I can't upgrade my OS in desktop manager.

Wirelessly posted (BB 8330)

What O. S. Are you running on your PC.

Is your USB plugged directly to the PC USB ports--not through a hub or monitor port?
Reboot both the PC and the BB (remove the battery while the BB is powered on, replace and reboot).

i'm currently running os 4.2 and trying to upgrade to os 4.5 just downloaded dm 4.5 and os 4.5

i'm directly in through usb and i have now rebooted both devices with no luck

Go to Device Manager and see if there is a yellow sign next to any of the usb drivers.

firewall ?

Sounds like your USB drivers are corrupted. Try a fresh install, but uninstalling all and any copies of DM and your devices OS on the PC side. And do both installations over again. This has happened to me before. Use this for the uninstall process as it will delete the .inf files in the registry. Its a great little free program.

BUT, I would first rule out the cable, by trying a different cable and rule out the actual USB port(s) on the PC by trying a different port AND trying another USB device.

Hope this helps.