Dell Inspiron 1525 - Firewire not working

Hi,

I have a Dell Inspiron 1525 (running Vista), bought 3 months ago and recently tried using both a WD external HD linked through firewire and a Canon MiniDV (Mv500) using a 4 pin to 4 pin connector and neither devices were seen by the computer. The WD external HD has a USB connector which works fine but the laptop doesnt see anything when connected through firewire. When I used Windows moviemaker with the camera it doesn't find anything connected. I checked in device manager that the Firewire controller was running and it seemed fine and there were no more up to date drivers. I know there may be a problem with Vista supporting AV transfers but surely it should see the external HD.

Thanks,

Jack