BleepingComputer.com: Ipod won't sync

Hi, My daughter has had an ipod nano 2nd generation on her DELL running XPsp3 for 2 years with no problems. A few weeks ago her computer was infected and the OS corrupted, so we had the OS re-installed. Before the infection, we were using iTunes version 7.6, and when we re-installed on the newly installed OS we had to install iTunes version 9.0. I don't know if any of that is relevant but I thought I had better mention it.
Since we installed iTunes v9 her Nano will not sync. It is set to download automatically when she plugs in the Nano and she is running iTunes. Previously, she would download a few songs which where then listed in the recently purchased folder, and she would plug in the Nano and immediately the songs would download to the Nano. I went to the Help menu and did a Diagnostic which is listed there. All the tests passed except the last test that says Nano doesn't sync. I read all the instructions I could find and followed them all. Finally just to see if the Nano is OK I switched to Manual and dragged the songs from the list to the nano, and they were moved to the Nano fine.
Can anyone offer a solution to my problem? I went on the iTunes forum and posted the problem to no avail. I guess everyone on the itunes forum is 15 years old.
I happen to have a copy of the iTunes version 7.6 setup .exe. If it is thought that it might help, can I uninstall her v9 and install my v7.6 without incident? I uninstalled her v9 and then re-installed v9 again and although I searched for any left in files and found none, all her settings were saved. So I'm thinking maybe the problem was passed to the re-installation in a hidden file. Thanks for any help in advance.

Twice in the past i've had this same problem (first time though thing wouldn't even charge). First time i left it alone for a couple days and it finally worked; though the second time when it just wouldn't sync i had to reset my ipod. (Link below on how to do it) Also you said you have Itunes 9, you might want to check for updates since 9.0 had some serious security vulnerabilities.

http://www.technipages.com/how-to-reset-ipod-nano.html
(I'd try the first reset technique, before the second i'm sure your daughter doesn't want all the songs wiped.)

EDIT: Post a reply on the status of the ipod before you try the way second way to reset please.

Bassplayer15, on Nov 20 2009, 07:21 AM, said:

Thanks for your response. I have already done the first reset method. According to my Daughter the second method would wipe 500 songs and isn't an option, because it doesn't guaranty it will work. My original post says it all, concerning the status. I have since learned you can't reverse install back to v7.6. I have been pestered to update to v9.2 I think, but the new version has nothing to do with my problem. Personally, I don't think the problem is in the Nano, rather I think it's an iTunes software problem. Not to complicate things, but they had a second Nano synced to iTunes also, where the second Nano had to download songs to the original Purchased list, and then create a playlist and drag her songs from the Purchased list to her playlist. Now that doesn't work either in v9.
I wonder if the problem originates in the fact we had to re-install Windows OS. Maybe there was a file in the original copy of Windows from iTunes concerning the ipod configurations, that doesn't exist in the new copy of Windows. I wonder if there is a way to cancel the account and start from scratch, after backing up the new songs of course.

First off sorry about the late reply, secondly i am also sorry that i can offer no more help. Only thing i can think off is possibly backing up the music somewhere else on your computer, on a flash drive, or on a CD. and then reinstalling itunes. Sorry i can't be of anymore help.

What exactly happens when you press the "sync" button in iTunes?