I think I might have figured it out but have to try it. Samsung's sync software is called Samsung Kies, the phone is defaulted to try to use it to connect. I wondered what that was till I read the manual lol Its page 133 manual here
Support for Samsung Captivate? (SGH-i897) SAMSUNG
According to their site it is not available in US. You can change setting to use Windows Media Player or use phone as mass storage device.
If you want Kies, you could click on Canada at
Samsung Apps. to get a copy, I will try WMP.