USB device not recognized

I use a Dell computer in the United Kingdom.  In January 2013 I bought a Dell Inspiron 15z laptop, OS Windows 8.  More recently I bought a Samsung Galaxy S II smartphone, second-hand.  Although bought in London there are some indications that it may have originally been bought in the USA as it has AT&T's logo on the casing and AT&T as a 'preferred' browser.  I should like to synch files (music, photos etc.) between the computer and the phone, but whenever I connect using a USB port, with two of the ports on the laptop there is no response whatever, while with the third I get a message 'USB not recognized'.  This continuedto happen after I downloaded Samsung's own Kies software on to the computer, on Samsung's advice.  When I click on the Samsung Kies icon on my desktop after connecting the phone to the computer's USB I get the message 'Please connect a device', and efforts to use the Kies troubleshooting have had no effect.

Follow-up phone calls to Samsung have not produced any advice, as it seems impossible to speak dircetly to their Kies experts and they do not return phone calls despite switchboard undertakings to do so.  Can anyone in the Dell forum advise me how I can activate the link between computer and phone?