iTunes FREEZES anytime I do ANY change to the iPod music

Hello,

I have an iPod Touch 4G 32GB.

In the past, updating files was quick and easy. Recently, whenever I plug my ipod to my PC and open iTunes, then try to add, delete, change a file name, or any other action related to music, iTunes updates it and then goes into this process, "updating files on iPod" and freezes like that for a good amount of time before allowing me to do anything else. This is very frustrating! It makes my iPod update to take 2 hours instead of 10 minutes. And always when this state shows up, it's always stuck on the same song and always no. 2 out of 172 (it goes straight to no. 2, never shows no. 1, and it never shows any progress on the bar)...

Also, the same thing occurs only with "Syncing Artwork"...

Everything on my iPod is set to manual addition and sync so it's not that.

What could be the problem on both accounts, and how could I fix it?!

Regarding the artwork sync, is there a way of turning it off so it wouldn't even try to do it?

I'd appreciate your response, Tom.

P.S. - adding a screenshot of the issue.