My Windows XP machine does not recognize my iPod Touch

Question

Hello,
I just bought a second-hand iPod Touch (4-gen, 32GB). My Windows XP laptop is giving no indication that anything is attached to it at all. The "found new hardware" wizard does not open. The little icon that allows you to eject safely before detaching doesn't show up in the tray. No external devices are listed on My Computer.
I've spent a couple of days looking through previous posts in this forum and I did a little troubleshooting. This is what I can tell you so far:
The iPod is working - I can play music on it, use a few apps, etc.
I tried two different USB cables and neither one worked.
The Apple Mobile Device Support DOES appear in my Add/Remove programs list
But the Apple Mobile Device USB Driver is NOT in the USB controllers list.
I had iTunes running before I hooked up the USB cable to the iPod.
I tried to look for iTunes updates, but was unable to access the site. (Yes, I was connected to the Internet - following directions on this site. ) I don't remember what version of iTunes I have (I'm not at home right now), but it's not the latest.
Until a couple of weeks ago, I had an iPod classic 5-gen that I was able to sync with iTunes, no problem. It's only the iPod touch that doesn't work.
Most users who ask about this problem do seem to get some recognition on their computer that there is some sort of device attached.They seem to have more issues with iTunes. So most similar questions direct to the "iOS: Device not recognized in iTunes for Windows" article. This article seems to assume that the computer has responded in some way to the iPod, even if incorrectly - but mine doesn't respond at all.
Can someone recommend a troubleshooting article that addresses the more basic problem of Windows not recognizing the iPod?
Thank you,
Joyce

Answer 1

I did a restore. Not from backup, though, as I had not done a backup prior to the restore. However, in the process of the restore, it asked if I wanted to back up and I said yes.
The restore concluded, and then it asked if I wanted to put the backed-up stuff back on the iPod, and I said yes.
Then I did the sync. It seemed to be working. It went through 3 steps and stayed on step 3 for a while. Then it ended, and there was nothing on the iPod. The "Music" button opens a screen that says "no content."
Then I did a sync test from Help->Diagnostics. This is what was displayed on the command window:
Performing Sync Diagnostics for iTunes
reporting PE file versions
reporting time zones
Enabling Sync Logging
Starting Sync
2013-03-13 02:59:11.896 syncli.exe[3188:e6c] setting one shot sync group for client con.apple.MobileSync.6f93c87e3101b680446936d817872280c801eb54
2013-03-13 02:59:11.956 syncli.exe[3188:e6c] no registered client con.apple.MobileSync.6f93c87e3101b680446936d817872280c801eb54
Waiting for Sync to finish
...Disabling Sync Logging
The test ended "successfully" (with a green light, etc).
Don't you think that "no registered client con.apple.MobileSync.blahblahblah..." is significant? Seems like it was unable to do the sync because some program or process or whatever was missing.
So, still not synching. Is there anything else I can try? Thanks...