I use VISTA but it is fussy, go into your "Windows Mobile Device Center" and under Mobile Device Settings / Connection Settings, uncheck allow USB Connections. That will allow build OS to run and exectue your kitchen. You may have to restart Vista before it will work properly. I also always put the phone in bootloader before hooking it up via usb.
If you still "hang" then do a hard reset on the phone and select "y" ... then restart the computer and try it again.
Stock ROMS from the carrier I can't get to run on vista at all yet unless they are specifically for vista.