I used to be prompted every time I inserted a USB pen drive what I would like to do (e.g. Open in new window) when I was running PCLOS miniMe 2008 and I could then read and write to.
Then I upgraded to 2009 via the Synaptic Package Manager.
I am no longer prompted.
Same whether normal user or as root.
If I look via "local disks" in the "configure your computer" the sda is seen and shows the pen drive as unmounted and with no mount point. If I set the mount point and mount it works to a degree except I can only read from it. Needs root to write to it.
I have checked both KDED Media Manager and Media Notifier Daemon services and both are running and set to auto start.
The haldaemon is running.

the answer seems to be to upgrade the kernel to 2.6.26.8-tex3 (via synaptic) you then get an extra option (but not the default) for the new kernel in the grub menu.
Select it and test it out
In my case I had to remove an entry (I had made) in the etc/fstab for sda1
After that it works as I want.
To make the kernel change permanent you need to change the boot option in configure your computer under "Setup Boot System"