if you cant figure out how to reset, You can always delete then manually.
Just highlight all of the songs you want to get rid of by highlighting them.It's quick and simple.
This is how it works with a PC/Windows XP:
Click on a song,hold down the shift button, move the arrow down the list and they will all turn blue. Then right click and select DELETE songs. This will remove all of the songs that you have highlighted in blue.
This also gives you the option of leaving some songs on you pod if you want.
And make sure that when you plug in your pod, you are deleting from your pod and not the library. This is the blue music not UNDER the name of your iPod, not the one above it.
A reset & a restore are 2 totally different things. A reset does nothing to the content on the iPod, a restore will remove all iPod content. Also, to delete songs from the iPod manually, the iPod preferences have to be set to "manually manage" before you can do anything with the content on the iPod. If the iPod is on autosync, you can do nothing with the iPod content, any changes have to be made through iTunes.
I see what you mean about the auto sync too. I forget about that sometimes because mine is set to manual. But he can still use the "shift" method to delete the songs if he wants.
And checking the box to set it to manual probably isn't a bad idea since autosync is probably what caused the initial accident.
But Im sure my post has confused him. Your suggestion was probably more straight forward. my bad