Help! "Use iTunes to restore.."(CAN'T!!)

Question

Hi all,
I got an ipod nano.(4 gb)when i tried to open my ipod ,it gives an error "use iTunes to restore" then i try to restore but it gives an error "iTunes has detected an iPod in recovery mode.You must restore the ipod before it can be used with iTunes"
Hundreds of time i tried to restore but all of the time same error..
Anyone have any idea?
Ipod Nano 4 gb   Windows XP  

Answer 1

My Problem iz rather weird nd strange. about a month back, my 2GB nano just freezed due to no apparent reason. i used the hold-menu-and-centre-key strategy to reset it and the next screen said somthing like USE ITUNES TO RESTORE. i connected it thru my USB cable to my PC and i tunes wudn't recognize it. then i used the updater which said can't mount iPOD. i then checked ur forums and tried tht manual disk mode to format it in my PC. but on right clickin on
iPOD(which shows as REMOVABLE DRIVE), nothing happens. no format screen iz displayed. but somehow trying again and again and restarting and shutting down the ipod service solved the matter. for testing, i copied one song with couple of photos in it. it worked reallly fine until i
formatted my pc.
I re-did the partitions, reinstalled the windows
and every software. then i downloaded the latest iTUNES(7.0.2) from apple's website. ripped a few cds on my pc, then opened iTUNEs to copy more music in my iPOD. just after the copy started, iTUNES gave error which had something to do with the transfer. i unpluggged my iPOD
after ejecting frm iTUNES and found the same freaky error (USE ITUNES TO RESTORE) again. as i had tackled thru this error earlier, so i repeated the same procedure but with latest iTUNES this time. i had to download the latest iPOD updater(1.3 i guess) too as it is not included in iTUNES.
and after every step, it is still giving the same error over and over again. i hav another pc which iz using the same windows with previous iPOD updater and iTUNES. that updater givez errors like CAN'T MOUNT iPOD,FIRMWARE UPDATE FAILURE, etc. and also hangs sometimes. and even if it
restores, the iPOD never restarts. when i use my other PC with newer iTUNES and new windows on it, it givez errors like UNKNOWN ERROR, etc. also after restoring, the iPOD restarts and shows the same USE ITUNES to RESTORE error. main probelm i m facing in restoring process thru disk mode iz tht whenever i right click on the iPOD in my COMPUTER, there r 99% chances that it wont show any format dialogue at all (even if the iPOD service isn't running)
kindly help me az i m tooo much fed up of this thing. i mite smash the nano onto my computer screen if nuthin helps :S
kindly reply soon. please note tht the country i live in doesn't giv support for iPODs and i received this product as a gift about an year back and has been working fine ever since (except last two times) also i cant afford to send it bak to UK or something like tht. so online
help wud b much appreciated...
also i cudnt find any POST new TOPIC button on these forums, kindly help me in tht regard too...
THANKING IN ANTICIPATION
P.S. i've tried it three different PCs with frsh installations. so suggest me something different also drive letter can't b changed for iPOD in disk manager..