iPod nano shows up in device manager, iPod updater doesn't recognize it

I'm posting this in the hopes that it'll help someone who has the same problem I've had over the last few weeks. At some point, after getting the latest iPod updater, my iPod stopped being recognized by iTunes. I finally sat down tonight and solved the problem.

Here's what I did. I uninstalled iTunes (prolly didn't need to do this, but I was following Apple's instructions) and the iPod updater, reinstalled the new one, rebooting WAY too many times (I think Steve Jobs is punishing Windows users for not purchasing macs - their Windows software is really awful). The iPod was still not recognized. BUT, it did show up in Device Manager, although it didn't have a drive letter assigned to it.

I assigned the I: drive letter (I doubt assigning the drive letter had anythign to do with solving the problem, but I'm mentioning it just in case). I then ran the Windows disk management tool (MMC, Add Remove Snap-in, Disk Management), and the iPod showed up there. I formatted it as Fat32, and reran the iPod updater software. Sure enough, it now recognized the iPod and allowed me to reset it.

I've not yet installed iTunes, but I'm pretty sure I've solved the problem at this point. Hope this helps someone out there!

UPDATE: I just finished installing iTunes, and it happily recognizes the nano again.