WIndows Explorer/iTunes wont reccognize iPod mini

I realize there are alot of topics on this forum along these same lines (product defect?) but I'm starting a new one, because I couldn't find any helpful information in the others about my problem. I'm going to be a specific as possible.

I have a 4GB iPod mini, which has seemed to work fine since I got it last month (it was a replacement of my last iPod, from Apple, whose battery had gone bad). However, in the past few days whenever I plug it into my computer, iTunes will not reccognize it. It will not appear in My Computer, either. It will, however, display a message in the icons on the taskbar saying that a USB mass-strage device is connected. Also, the "Do Not Connect" screan appears on my iPod, when it's connected.

I've also checked under the device manager; the USB port that I plug the iPod into is powered, and it does reccognize that a USB mass storage device is being plugged in.

I've checked, and my iPod is formatted for Windows. I've also tried the "Reset all settings," opetion, but it does not help. I've also tried redownloading and reinstalling the iTunes and the iPod software. These do not help. I cannot reformat my iPod, because the iPod software doesn't reccognize that it's plugged in.

Help.