I'm trying to get into USB drive mode using a micro USB cord that did not come with the phone, but it only seems to want to charge. Could it be the cord or is there some setting I can change to get it to change modes?
It *could* be the cord. IIRC, two of the contacts are for power, two are for data. Some of the cheaper charging cords may not have the data contacts connected, and may not have them at all. I have one or two cords like that. As long as the cable that came with the phone works, the phone is likely fine.
Not sure if everyone had to do this, but I had to install the drivers from Google. It was actually stupid process. You have to download the SDK manager. This is like a FileZilla program (FTP downloader). you choose the file you want and only download it.
If you google it, you can find many tutorials on how to do this.
Alternatively, there is a method of installing PDAnet that seems to be much quicker but doesnt seem to work for everyone.