Ipod Touch 3.0 Upgrade problems

Question

Hi there;
I've found a few similar problems out there on the forum, but none that contain a solution that has helped.
Basically I tried to upgrade my 2nd generation ipod touch from software version 2.2 to the new 3.0. On my main box pc, on which I have used Itunes for ages, I first upgraded to Itunes 8.2.0.23 and then I was further prompted to upgrade my ipod software to version 3.0.
The download went fine, but on installing the upgrade the ipod locked on the Apple screen (no progress bar) and I was presented with a window saying the update had failed. When going back to Itunes I was told that my ipod was in recovery mode and needed to be restored. After a further long period staring at an Apple, I get an error saying the Ipod could not be restored (code 1603).
After repeated attempts I decided to use my laptop, which has never had itunes installed as it's only a week old. I installed Itunes, started it and connected the Ipod. Again it said it was in recovery mode, so I asked it to restore it. Interestingly it downloaded v2.2 and restored successfully, although it was blanked back to purchase state. It then told me about the 3.0 upgrade, so (stupidly) figuring that this was a new state ipod on a different machine with a clean, new install of Itunes, I thought ok!
Same result, locks on the Apple screen and eventually tells me the update failed. Now when I restore on the laptop, I believe it's trying to restore the newly downloaded 3.0 instead of the (working) 2.2 and it fails with the error above.
I'm pretty confident that I can use a 3rd pc to restore back to 2.2, but why oh why is this being so problematic? Is 3.0 broken for some ipods out there?
I've tried a few solutions I've found, such as restarting the Apple Mobile Service, and using a different machine is like reinstalling/using different usb's (didn't work anyway as I've tried 2 ports on the laptop now), holding down the power/standby buttons to hard reset it. I'm about to create a new user on Vista32 HP to see if I can get it to restore.
What's going on?!
Many thanks in advance for any help.
Graeme
Btw:m I did pay for the update through Itunes of course. The new laptop install recognised that I'd paid already and downloaded without a further purchase.

Answer 1

RESOLVED
Typically, within 1/2 hour of posting my problem, I tried a random solution and it randomly worked. After quitting itunes, disconnecting the ipod (stuck permanently on the Apple screen after the last update failure, so I held down the power/stby buttons to turn it off). I then dug into the following folder where itunes keeps its update downloads...
c:\users\((username))\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPod Software Updates
... and moved the two update files (one for 2.2 and another for 3.0) to the recycle bin. I ran iTunes, turned on the ipod with a hard reset by using the power/stby buttons together (to get the screen with the usb connector pointing to iTunes), then connected it. Got the screen saying about Recovery mode and needing to restore ... so I restored, got the window saying about 3.0... it downloaded and installed (progress bar and everything) successfully.
Farce complete. I don't think I'll update again!!!
I hope this possibly helps others out there, if they encounter this freakish seemingly rare problem.
Graeme