Apple mobile device USB driver is missing and cannot be installed

Question

Hi,
My iPod nano (6th gen) is not recognised by iTunes but is recognised by Windows sometimes (once in 2-3 attempts).
Every time I connect my iPod to my laptop, a window pops up saying "an iPod is detected but could not be identified properly...".
I looked through apple support page and narrowed down the cause to the driver.
Apple mobile device USB driver does not show up in Device Manager.
However iPod does show up under Portable Devices as a camera when iPod is recognised by Windows.
I tried reinstalling Apple Mobile Device USB Driver as it was shown in the support page (right click on iPod in Device Manager>update driver software>...).
This did not work (gave me an error saying "the folder you specified doesn't contain a compatible software driver for your device...".
So I tried another method I found online; extract iTunes installer (itunes6464setup.exe), extract AppleMobileDeviceSupport6464.msi in it, and use the files in it to update driver.
This gave me the same error.
It seems that a Windows driver is installed for my iPod (WPD FileSystem Volume Driver); when I opt for "search automatically" in Uptade driver software, this driver shows up with the message "the best driver for your device is already installed".
Also, my iPod is shown in Devices and Printers with an exclamation mark (when I connect my iPod to my laptop, the exclamation mark shows up only after I click OK on the message window "an iPod is detected but could not be identified properly...")
Troubleshoot showed "Windows is uninstalling this device (Code 21)".
I'd appreciate it if someone could help with the situation.
I'm using Windows 8.1, iTunes 12.1 for Windows 64bit, and iPod nano 6th gen.
I haven't connected my iPod to my laptop for a long while, but I recall connecting an iPhone to my laptop a while ago and it was recognised just fine.
After that I updated my Windows from 8 to 8.1, but I don't think it has anything to do with the problem as my iPod wasn't recognised by iTunes before and after the update.
Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

For general advice see Troubleshooting issues with iTunes for Windows updates.
The steps in the second box are a guide to removing everything related to iTunes and then rebuilding it which is often a good starting point unless the symptoms indicate a more specific approach. Review the other boxes and the list of support documents further down the page in case one of them applies.
Your library should be unaffected by these steps but there is backup and recovery advice elsewhere in the user tip.
If the advice above doesn't resolve things you could try this alternate version:
iTunes 12.1.0.71 for Windows (64-bit - for older video cards) - itunes64setup.exe (2015-01-28)
which is a 64-bit installer for the 32-bit version of the core application, similar to previous 64-bit releases. Or roll back to the previous build:
iTunes 12.0.1.26 for Windows (32-bit) - iTunesSetup.exe (2014-10-16)
iTunes 12.0.1.26 for Windows (64-bit) - iTunes64Setup.exe (2014-10-16)
tt2