Your palm has never correctly performed a hotsync operation on your XP computer. All you get is a "Thunk" when you attempt to hotsync. The problem is the driver. What happens with XP is that it automatically tries to install the wrong driver. If you install the software before you get your Palm anywhere near your computer you are pretty safe but  otherwise, you may run into this issue.

Solution:

What you have to do it uninstall the driver

1.
Open your device manager:
Right click on the My Computer icon.
Click on Properties.
Find the Hardware Tab.
Find the Device Manager button on that window.
Leave it open.

2.
Try to hotsync
After you push the button, look in the device manager window.
Find the icon marked with a yellow triangle.
Make sure you are in the lowest level and can see the driver. It will
be marked with a yellow triangle as well.
Right click on the driver.
Choose uninstall.

3.
In control panels, Add and Remove programs, remove Palm Desktop.
Reinstall Palm Desktop.
Try to Hotsync.
It should come up with found new hardware icon and install the palm.
Then you should be able to hotsync.