2 ipods, same problem - need to reset them the first time I use them

Hmm, I take that back. The Shuffle is still giving me problems. Basically, what it does is this: I plug it in and it immediately spawns a bunch of windows (one of which is iTunes). I keep getting windows regarding autoplay, continuing to scan some such, and so on. I disabled my antivirus scanner in case it was triggering it, but it still happens. Honestly, I'm starting to wonder if this thing actually has a loose connection because sometimes syncing will actually interrupt. If I accidentally tap the thing while it's in the dock, I'll trigger a bunch of these annoying windows.

only one iPod at a time. The other USB devices are a keyboard and mouse on a different port and hub. The touch works fine (after an initial restore) so I'm really leaning towards an incorrectly fitting dock. The shuffle plays fine and never flashed any warning lights and even manage to charge fully. I just had to make sure I pushed it into the dock really hard and then avoid tapping it. I have another mp3 player that does something similar but it works fine as long as you ram the connector in.

I'm going to go back to the store and see what they can do.

Aha! I may have solved it. I was repeatedly getting this error: "Do you want to scan and fix ipod?" It would also open a window (several times) asking me what I wanted to do - open the folder or speed up my system. Fix for the first issue is here: http://www.futureofrealestatetechnology.com/general-real-estate-technology/resol ve-vista-scan-and-fix-error-when-plugging-in-ipod-or-other-devices/

Fix for the second issue is to turn off autoplay. (setting everything to "take no action" wasn't enough)

Sorry that I wasn't more complete with my description of the problem. I was super tired when I wrote it. I forgot to even mention that the system is running Vista SP1.

Well I am hoping that this will fix everything. It really did seem like a loose connection because those windows would pop up several times especially if I tapped the ipod, so I figured it was basically reconnecting over and over again. Also it would interrupt syncing, but that hasn't happened since I restored it to factory defaults and tapping it seems to no longer cause anything bizarre to happen (not even with iTunes up). The tapping issue may have just been a coincidence - I may have thought tapping it was causing something to happen but in fact those windows may have just been coming up on their own.

Solution in Vista is to open a command window and type chkdsk :/f