itunes locking up when hook ipod up

Hi, I'm having some freezing issues like some others, but not sure if it is the same. I had some music on my player, the playback was very slow. I thought there may be a corrupt song or something, I hooked up to itunes and reset to factory to "start from scratch" All functions of ipod are going good (minus having no music). I attempted to hook back up to itunes, I get the "do not disconnect" on ipod. Itunes popes open, but it is locked up. I cannot access any of the functions of itunes. I even left it hooked up for over an hour, still nothing. Itunes will not close, and i have to reboot pc to get the itunes window to close. I can see it in my computer management window, it shows I have and empty ipod. I am also hearing some clicks and grinds, but not sure if that is ok. It is an old 30 classic, with a battery that is about on its last legs. I would like to save it so I dont have to spend the money on a new one, but the headaches with this one, it is time to pitch in garbage. thanks for reading and helping.