Hi there - I'm new to the Lounge and to posting on the forums, so I apologize in advance if a similar query has been raised elsewhere. I did search before, and didn't find anything exactly similar so here goes...

Two weeks ago, I bought a 15G iPod to use with my Sony VAIO laptop, which has a built in FireWire connection. I run Windows ME. To make a very long story short, I needed to format the iPod and restore it, and every time I tried to click the restore button, a window popped up immediately with a red X and the words "Can't Open iPod." That, combined with the fact that I could get nothing out of the iPod when I turned it on, other than the Apple logo which would quickly change to the folder icon with the exclamation point, meant that after hours of consultation with three different people at Apple, I had to send it back. About a week later I received what appeared to be a refurbished unit. Yesterday I managed to format it, at least according to the computer, but when I tried to launch Updater to restore it, I got the "Can't Open iPod" message again. Since it apparently won't restore, I'm stuck. The guy I talked to at Apple Tech Support told me to send this one back. I'm practically on intimate terms with the Airborne delivery guy at this point.

In troubleshooting this, I disabled any software on my laptop that could have been interfering with the installation. I was trying to follow Apple's installation directions to the letter, so I was installing MMJB, which by reading here, I see may not be a good idea. Does anyone have any thoughts on what might be happening? The same thing with two different units leads me to believe the problem's on my end, so I'm not sure getting a THIRD iPod is going to help.

Any advice would be most appreciated. I'm pretty close to giving up on it at this point.

cdstack