iTunes won't synch EITHER of two restored iPod Classics

Hi all,

Would appreciate some help. My iTunes will not synch either of two iPod classics. Here is what I have tried:

• both have been restored to factory settings through iTunes
• both have been checked for system errors in disk mode via my laptop and no errors have been found
• my iTunes is the latest version
• I have restarted the computer and both iPods have been rebooted several times
• I have tried different USB cables

THE EXACT PROBLEM:

The laptop (Windows, Lenovo, quite old!) recognises a iPod is there, iTunes opens as normal and knows the names of the iPods (before they were wiped, that is) so everything seems normal, UNTIL you click 'Synchronize' on the iPod page on iTunes - nothing happens at all, no progress metre, no sign of action, then if you double click 'synchornize' nothing happens in iTunes but the iPod screen displays the moving 'synchronising' arrows for ten seconds or so, and then just goes back to 'Connected' screen, no music has been transferred at all during any of these attempts.

HOW THIS STARTED:

This all began when a 180GB iPod classic I had been using without problems for years would skip over a couple of songs I recently added even though they played fine in iTunes and was making a slight clicking noise when I tried to select those songs. I read some suggestions online and decided it couldn't hurt to restore the iPod. Process seemed to go totally as you'd expect but as soon as it was time to use the iPod as though it was new and synch for the first time it simply wouldn't (as detailed above). After trying lots of suggestions online, I went and got out another iPod (they are both second hand but I had been keeping this one in reserve in case of any issue with the first) - this one was 80GB. Unlike before I had no choice but to restore this one as it wasn't even my music on there, but as soon as it was time to synch all the files from laptop to iPod the problem was exactly the same, which suggests this is a laptop or iTunes problem, not an iPod problem. And yet the computer is recognising them fine, and they are not showing up any system errors.

Any idea where I am going wrong? It is so sad and annoying because I now have TWO iPods that seem to work, but are totally blank, and a working iTunes account with all my music, so why there is this block on making them synch together is beyond me.

I don't want to use my phone to listen to music as streaming services don't have rare things, it runs down battery, lower bitrate, etc. so I am kind of desperate to get these working again!

I am not especially techy so if anyone spots a potential solution I would appreicate it so much if you could explain it like you would to an not very computer literate old person, maybe your parents or grandparents.

Cheers