Coby mpc854. whenever i try to plug in my mp3 player into the computer while WMP is running it

Question

whenever i try to plug in my mp3 player into the computer while WMP is running it give me an error message that says WMP needs to close. if i try plugging it in before i open WMP i get the same message when WMP opens. also, my computer wont let me take my music from my external hard drive and put directly into the player. please help.