Q: Hello. just got a nice ipod and plugged it in to my pc with vista, it asked me to format the ipod and I did so. Now it will not turn on or work in any way.  ??   what happened to it ???    how do I restore it ???     Thanks.

Hello team_muskoka,

First I'd make sure that there's some sort of activity occurring on the iPod itself, as the battery could be drained (iPod: About the battery charge status icon | http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1435).

If the iPod's not showing up in 'My Computer,' either the following article details a number of things that can help get it going again.

iPod not recognized in 'My Computer' and in iTunes for Windows

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1369

If the device is powering on and shows up in 'My Computer,' I'd suggest putting it into Disk Mode. If you've got the newest (7th generation) iPod classic the process is as follows:

1. Reset the device by pressing the Sleep and Home buttons simultaneously until the display shows the Apple logo. This should take about eight seconds.
2. When the Apple logo appears, press and hold the Volume Down and Volume Up buttons simultaneously until the device enters Disk Mode.

If it's a 6th generation iPod classic, the process is slightly different:

1. Reset the device by pressing the Sleep and Volume Down buttons simultaneously until the display shows the Apple logo. This should take about eight seconds.
2. When the Apple logo appears, hold down the Volume Down and Volume Up buttons simultaneously until the device enters Disk Mode.

Putting iPod into Disk Mode

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1363

From there, if the iPod's still not behaving, it may be necessary to restore with Disk Mode enabled:

Restoring iPod to factory settings

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1339

Cheers,

Allen