Itunes won't let me back up my Ipod, or sync music

Hi there
My itunes won't give me the option to back up my ipod touch (3rd gen)- I have the latest iTunes and iOS (4.2) but it still won't let me create a backup. When I right click on the ipod, the only backup option I am given is to restore from an old backup, which is 2 years old and from a completely different Ipod touch. I am not given the option to create a new back up.
This is an issue for me, as when my ipod syncs, it tries to transfer purchased apps from my ipod to the computer (and does so), but when it is about to sync songs it say 'Error reading to disk' and cancels the sync - this means the only way I can get new songs onto the ipod is to restore it to its original settings, something I have had to do twice already, and am reluctant to do again, as I don't have a backup!
Many thanks

- Have you tried resetting your iPod:
Press and hold the On/Off Sleep/Wake button and the Home
button at the same time for at least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears.
- The following may help since it concerns disk reading errors
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1207

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Itunes won't let me back up my Ipod, or sync music

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