IPod sync problem on XP laptop w/external hard drive for music

I have a Dell laptop running XP Pro with a 250GB Western Digital (WD) external hard drive (hd) connected to one of my two USB ports. Whenever I attach my 30 GB classic video iPod to the other USB port simultaneously to sync it, either a.) the iPod freezes or b.) my hard drive "blanks" in windows and all of the files "disappear". The WD hd is still recognizable, but there are only folders in it, no files. Once I disconnect the WD hd and the iPod and reconnect the WD hd, the songs are still there, but now iTunes thinks some of those songs (at random as far as I can tell) no longer exist where the library thought they did.
My most pressing question is: does anyone know how I can sync my iPod so that songs residing on my WD hd are seamlessly incorporated into the sync, without the WD hd freaking out?
I don't want to have to dump files from my external to the internal hard drive and then manually add them to the iPod. Also is there a way to tell iTunes that all of the songs with exclamations do in fact have the file originally assigned to it, without going through them one by one? Thanks.

Assign a different drive letter to the iPod. You'll need to temporarily disconnect the WD while you do this, and use a much higher letter for the iPod, like M or P or Z.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=93499

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