Q: Problem with an older 160gb classic and trying to restore

Alright so I had an old laptop that died and I bought a new computer.  I had to rip my CD's onto it and went to re-sync my Ipod again on a brand new computer.

I can't remember exactly what it said but I ended up having to restore my ipod, so I did.  Everything went find until my ipod said to Use iTunes to Restore.

Every time I try to plug in my ipod the ipod stays the same but my itunes completely freezes up.   I tried waiting an hour or two to see if maybe it would do something but had no luck.   I started looking up solutions online but nothing I have tried seems to work.

I have tried reset, disc mode, DFU restore, FAT 32 format and the like, and even tried an older version of itunes (which wouldn't let me open since I was using a newer library) so nothing seems to be working.  

I am pretty computer average, I don't really know much more than what I read about how to work on computers so I appreciate any help anyone can offer in a computer "rookie" layout.  This is driving me crazy, seems the more things "evolve" the more problematic they become.