An iPod has been detected, but it could not be identified properly...

Are you running service pack 3 for xp? If not, install it and see if that solves the issue.

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This sounds more like an issue with the formatting of the iPod if it is able to sync with her laptop.
Windows 7 is still relatively new so there might be some compatibility issues, but I highly doubt this as I have a similar setup in my home.
If you have the chance to visit her again and assuming both OS are up to date, you could try the following:
Putting it into Disk Mode manually by holding the Center Button and Menu until the iPod resets, and holding Center Button and Play/Pause as it boots.
Use a different cable to sync to determine if your cable is damaged.
Update your software with her laptop.
Restoring you iPod and loading the music on again with her laptop.

I called the Apple Support Centre. The one thing the site does not tell you is when you delete and re-install iTunes, you need to delete Quicktime, Apple Mobile, Apple software update and iTunes - so in all you need to delete 4 lots of software. And then IT WORKS !!!!!!

I have the exact same issue !!!!

I fixed this finally. I have done the following
- sync with the virtual XP
- crached my dvd drive - now it's not working at all
- uninstall everything with the manufacturer 'apple, inc'
- restarted my machine 1000000 times
- reinstalled iTunes 9, with ipod unplugged
- plug in my ipod before importing any music
- and it works...

I have no idea what exactly happened, but ipod works and my dvd drive died...

I am getting the same error on windows XP. Only way I found to fix it is to go to Device manager and remove the driver. Upon the next connection the driver re-install itself and iTunes recognize my Ipod Nano 5G.

I don't know why I'm getting the error exactly, but I've notice a few things:
- Happen after I charged the nano 5G with the USB Power Adapter. Next time I connect to the computer I get the error.
- Happen after playing some games: After playing Monopoly when i connect to the computer i'm getting the error.
- My XP machine is a netbook since there is no cd-rom drive I have an external one. When I connect the nano 5G and it does not get the same drive 'letter' as the previous connection (due to the fact that the external CD-rom was connected or not) I get the error.

I spent hours doing some tests and here is what I found out (that is on Windows XP SP 3, I did no tests on my Vista machine yet):

I checked what i suspected was causing the problems as per my previous post: USB power, games and drive 'letter' mapping.

USB Power Adapter: turn out negative, no matter how many times i tried it. iTunes could always recognize my iPod Nano 5g.

Drive 'letter' mapping: again negative. I tried up to 2 external drives in addition to my iPod and iTunes also had no probem detecting the iPod Nano 5G. During my tests I changed the order of the drives and iPod so that each ones were at drive D:, E: or F:, That made no difference.

iPod Click Wheel Games: Everytime that I play one of the games I installed (ones I purchased from the store), iTunes would not recognize my iPod Nano 5g. There was no exception. The games that came with the iPod Nano 5G did not gave me any problems.

Since the older games were not designed for the 5G, maybe running one of the old game changes a setting to make it behave like an older iPod nano model (screen resolution???) and forget to set it back to 5G model. That would explain that iTunes detect an iPod but cannot detect the right model as settings were changed by the game.
Also a few times I have seen the 'boot' screen (white Apple logo on black background) after running one of those games.

The only thing I have found to make iTunes recognize my iPod again is to delete the driver in Device Manager and let windows install the driver anew as if it was the first time it saw the iPod. No need to re-install iTunes, Windows, etc.

It is possible that other factors cause the problem. In my case it has only been the running of older games.

Hopefully an update of the games or the iPod 5G firmware will solve the problem once and for all.

I've had exactly the same problem with my 5th gen. nano and iTunes in Windows Vista.

Really good tips Sharouk, I spent hours to find out a workaround for the issue and found the answers here. Thank you!

However, I wasn't able to solve the problem by just reinstalling the driver. I had to delete iTunes, restart Vista and then reinstall iTunes.

Should we contact Apple in order to get this fixed in the next firmware update?

I recieved an ipod 5g for christmas and have the same problem everybody else does. I dont know how to delete the driver and am not sure about doing it since I use my mom's computer. Her ipod (earlier generation) works fine and I dont want to mess with it. I just want mine to work. Does anybody have an idea when apple with fix this, or how I can make mine work without messing with the programs on the computer?

i just had this problem with my iPod 5th generation as well..
all i had to do was quit out of iTunes and install the latest version 🙂

Thanks for the info. My 5th gen was working just fine until I had to start over with my PC Windows XP. I had the newest version and was able to sync just fine. The second I had to reload Itunes for the "first" time, my computer was able to detect but not identify.

Going to try a few of the suggestions including the device manager. Thanks!