Sprint WM6.5 won't upgrade

[willb02]

I receive an error message when proceeding through the update from Windows Mobile 6.1 to 6.5. When I get to the seventh step "Updating the ROM image on your PDA phone" I get an error message

PDA Phone ROM Update Utility 3.28.4.3
Error [260] : CONNECTION
The update Utility cannot connect to your PDA Phone. Please check that your USB cradlecCable is connected properly between the PC and your PDA Phone.

Check the following:
1. The PDA phone is connected to the USB cradle/cable.
2. The USB cradle/cable is connected to the PC

Everything is in deed connected as it was during the initial process. My phone was discovered and the process proceeded all the way to my phone displaying "loading". Something evidently is causing the phone to disconnect from the PC during (or before) the "loading" step.

Any ideas? I tried the process 3 times without success.