You can only delete USB devices from device manager. In the option Forseti suggest you have a stop button, so select the device that shows the Freecom drive and click the stop button, and with a bit of luck, when you unplug the Freecom drive's USB cable and reconnect it should now work OK. If it doesn't, then you need to go into Device Manager and delete the USB connection for this drive and reboot the PC.
As regards updates for Vista, you have the option to tell Vista to only install updates after you close the computer down. This will stop it installing the updates and rebooting the computer. To select the option you want go to Control Panel and click on Security Centre, then click on Windows Update and set as required.
