Transferring play counts from iPod to iTunes manually?

So, after getting the shock of my life because my iPod (Classic) suddenly said I have no music on my iPod after I disconnected it without ejecting (due to copytrans not wanting to close, no matter what I tried) I finally managed to manually backed up my entire music from my corrupted iPod (copying all folders from the "iPod_control" folder to my computer).

Now I had no problem with dragging them all in iTunes (they were copied in my library folder) but since I'm quite (like incredibly strong) attached to my play counts and ratings I wonder if there is any way to get them manually from my iPod and "apply" them to my itunes library (I already tried to use third party programs like copytrans and DiskAid but they always freeze up (which is not unusual having 74GB of music but usually it works after leaving it for 10 to 15 minutes) when I'm connecting my iPod (same as iTunes)-probably because of the corrupted hard-drive).

I know it works when moving an iTunes library to another computer using the .itl file but not if it works for iPod to iTunes. I always assumed the playcount were saved under the track information same as the cover and track information but it's obviously not the case...

There is a file called "PlayCounts" in the subfolder "Device" of my iPod but it's only 1KB small and I have no idea what to do with it.

I'll be covering anyone with praise and thanks who can help me 🙂