As soon as I plug in/switch on my midi keyboard, the USB LED flashes

Download USB MIDI driver for yamaha from yamaha website,and install to laptop.
Next:
Make sure the POWER switch on the instrument is set to OFF,then use an AB type USB cable to connect the instrument to the laptop.
After making the connections, turn on the power of the instrument.
Laptop will immediately notify that new hardwares is connecting and automatically install the drivers. Wait until the process is finish.
Thats all. In Ableton,the setting MIDI input must be set to USB MIDI.

You will need to send it in for repair is my assessment.

Hello - I am too a personal owner of a CASIO CTK keyboard, a little older than yours (model CTK-601) a great keyboard BTW, and I have connected it to my computer successfuly.

There are 2 ways of connecting the keyboard to your PC......Using the MIDI outputs and a special MIDI to gameport adapter - if you have a very old system and have a joystick port (D-sub shape) on your soundcard or PC, then you use that cable. Of course this is legacy and stopped existing in newer computers, now USB is used.

Only the professional line of soundcards have direct MIDI inputs. For most of us, with consumer soundcards and PCs, there are no MIDI inputs.

The good news is that newer keyboards support USB MIDI and features direct USB connection - so all you have to do is install the drivers that are provided with your keyboard, usually a CD, and follow the instruction to install the USB drivers for your casio keyboard, BEFORE you plug in the cable (very important!) once installed you reboot and connect your keyboard using a USB cable

Now if your keyboard is older and has MIDI outputs, like mine for example, you will need to purchase a MIDI to USB adapter, those have MIDI cables in one end that plug to your keyboard and the other end a USB connector....... I don't know about the rules if I am allowed to post websites, but the product i'm using is the Uno from M-Audio - in google do this search:

"m-audio"uno

(exactly as shown above with quotes, and uno outside quotes)

Your CTK-810 may alreayd have a USB connector on it, as it is a newer generation keyboard - I am pretty sure it does - what you will have to do as stated above is located your bundled CD-ROM and install the USB drivers - you will need to purchase a USB cable (seperately).

You need to manually allocate the memory locations which is a rather complex job. Try to find a Windows-savvy techie.

I'm not at home right now where all my manuals are so I'll try to explain with out. You will have to set it so that the keyboard is the slave device. Try setting it to Omni receive. It has to be able to listen for all midi channels at once. You have to write a sequence on your computer and hook it to your keyboard by using midi out on the computer to midi in on the keyboard in order for you to use the computer as a controller. If you need the keyboard to create the sequences then you have to hook the midi send on the keyboard to the midi in on the computer play/enter your notes into individual tracks in your software then assign channels, voices etc to each track and save the sequence. Then when you hook it up the other way the sequence will play just like an audio recording except the sound w2on't be there. What you have recorded by creating a sequence is a series of midi messages that the keyboard will receive if you have it set properly and hooked up ptroperly which it will translate into sound. This is a minimalist explanation at best. You will have to have a better understanding of not only your keyboard but also your software and midi in general. There are some pretty amazing things you can do with midi. For instance if you have a lighting controller that is midi capable you can i,mbed all the lighting scene changes for your song in order on one track. You can also control your guitar effects pedal to change effects automatically while your playing. Once you get a handle on it you are only limited by your imagination and your budget. Hope this helps in some way.

point nr 1:
when you record midi, you are not recording sound but a key code and time info it was pressed. 

point nr 2:
the midi keyboard may be seen as a remote controller.

check the midi configuration on your software host

Depending on what you want to do...

If it's only music Mixing, you will have to plug your keyboard via audio jack to the line in of your computer. Then Audacity (free soft) can do the job.

If you want to edit midi file with your keybord you will need midi editor software like Linux-Rosegarden or if under windows try LMMS (all free soft of course).

Good luck

MIDI only carries digital information, not audio. Midi is used to communicate patch settings and note value information. If you want the recording to know the note value, then you should use midi. This is useful if you want to do things like adding rythm tracks, etc.

If your keyboard has audio/line out (as opposed to headphone out), use that, as it is matched much better in impedance. If it doesn't have audio/line out, then you can use the headphone jack, but you will have to turn the attenuation way down because the headphone jack impedance is much higher. This will tend to distort on the recording if you are not careful.

The first thing to know about digital recording is that distortion is much more of a problem. I won't get into the theory of this, just know that impedance mismatching is more of a problem with digital.

You said the magic phrase premiume HOME computer...
and the key word VISTA.
I've heard of VISTA pro running this but the home version is really not that robust for the type of gear you have there.
vista just has to many bugs.
go back to xp pro sp2 for good results.
good luck
44hink

We're talking about audio recording. If so you must conntect your piano by using the L + R outputs with your sound card or mixer line inputs (that's how I do this). USB is ok if you want to use your piano as a master keyboard (MIDI). Another important thing is that you must have an additional application installed called sequencer ( for example Cubase Sx, Sonar...) which will let you store your digital music. I'm not talking about the proper settings of them because it could take a day or so...:)
Overall, you will have to learn a bit about the home studio, home recording techniques. There are tons of informations on web. A great thing is that you can use your CP33 as a master keyboard to control additional virtual instruments (VST) or for example play different piano samples (check Synthogy Ivory). Possibilites are endless!

Regards
Radek