Vista Ultimate 64bit incompatibility?

Hi All,

I just got a computer that is running Windows Vista Ultimate 64 bit edition.

My Problem:

When I start the computer with my Portable Apps suite thumb drive plugged in, Windows stops loading the operating system while still in the stage where the screen is black and an error message comes up saying, "missing operating system." I have to pull the thumb drive and hit the computer's reset button to start windows.

I can plug in the Portable Apps thumb drive once Windows Vista has started and run the apps individually, but the Portable Apps Suite interface will not run, even once windows has loaded.

My questions:

Is there a way around this start-up problem? (I never had this issue with Windows XP.)

Is there a way to run the Portable Apps Suite interface? (Maybe a 64bit version?)

Thanks in advance!

.id.