IPod in Recovery Mode? New iTunes has made my iPods useless.

Question

I did a search and found others with the same problem, but no solutions. With iTunes (downloaded yesterday) neither of my iPods will work. I have a 30gb Video iPod and a third generation 20gb iPod. Both worked fine before I upgraded, now neither will work with iTunes on my work PC.
I have tried the "5 Rs" and it did nothing but wipe all the data off my video iPod I've uninstalled iTunes, deleted all associated folders, and deleted all registery entries that reference iTunes or iPod; I must have missed something though, because when I reinstall iTunes, it somehow still has all my library data grrr.
Any thoughts?
I happened to have just built a new PC at home (different from the one I'm having the problems on) and with a fresh OS and file system, the iPods work with the new iTunes, but not on my older work PC. Obviously I'm missing some file that needs to be deleted, otherwise the library info would be gone and I'd have to add files to my iTunes again, but I'll be damned if I can find the file.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Here is my iPod Diagnostic info from my 20gb 3rd generation iPod:
-----------------PASTE---------------------
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
Dell Computer Corporation Precision WorkStation 450
iTunes 7.0.1.8
iPodService 7.0.1.8 is currently running.
iTunesHelper 7.0.1.8 is currently running.
Current user is an administrator.
Connected Storage Devices:
IDE\DiskQUANTUMFIREBALLP_AS40.0_______________A1Y.1500, Bus Type ATA, Bus Address [1,0]
IDE\DiskST380023A______________________________3.33___, Bus Type ATA, Bus Address [0,0]
USBSTOR\DiskApple__iPod___________1.53, Bus Type USB
Universal Serial Bus Controllers:
Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller - 24C2, PCI bus 0, device 29, function 0. Device is working properly.
Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller - 24C4, PCI bus 0, device 29, function 1. Device is working properly.
Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB Universal Host Controller - 24C7, PCI bus 0, device 29, function 2. Device is working properly.
Intel(R) 82801DB/DBM USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller - 24CD, PCI bus 0, device 29, function 7. Device is working properly.
No IEEE 1394 Host Controller found.
The last connected iPod serial number: 4J609RQ0TXK.
---------------END PASTE----------------
Thanks,
Dale
Dell Computer Corporation Precision WorkStation 450   Windows XP Pro  

Answer 1

I had the same problem when connecting my 60GB iPod with iTunes 7, but I could get through it.
I cannot explain precisely what the cause was, however this is what I did:
1) uninstall iTunes 7 from Control Panel, then reboot;
2) connected iPod to PC without iTunes (mainly because I had all my summer pictures stored in it and wanted to copy them in a safer place, which I succeded at)
3) disconnected iPod from PC (with Safely Remove HW)
4) installed again iTunes 6.x (found link to download setup.exe in one post in this forum)
5) connected iPod: everything ok
6) installed iTunes 7 with iPod connected (but iTunes 6 obviously closed): after installation it prompted that iPod needed to have SW upgraded to 1.2, which it did in the usual way
(actually, I had no intention to install iTunes 7 again, but some podcasts I had found in the Store did not sync "because iPod SW is too old")
Hope this helps.