20 GB Ipod seems to crash when downloading

[yakker3]

I bought this 2nd generation 20 gb ipod 5 and a half weeks ago, and I've yet to be able to get more than 8 gb of songs on it. I have a Windows PC with Windows XP. Everytime I download songs, something happens affter about 8 gbs are downloaded and the ipod seems to crash. At that point, the ipod shows that there is about 8 gbs being used, but there are no songs on it - all the songs get wiped out. I sent it to Apple for repair and they sent it back saying that it is fine. Tech support says they can help me if I pay them $50. I'm trying this first. They said to research the problem, but I've looked through dozens of entries in the forum, and I haven't found the answer. Does anybody know what the problem is with this Ipod? I would really appreciate any ideas.
Thanks...

[Lance]

Try doing a restore. It will reformat the drive and allow you to start from complete scratch. As most hard drives are, they have files going on and off, and somewhere in the whole mess, files get lost. It's just esaier to start from scratch and then see if the problems presists. I believe you can get the firmware from the apple web page under support.

[ashawley]

What kind of firewire card do you have? What are you using to upload tunes. Try iTunes when it comes out (tomorrow hopefully).

Adam

[yakker3]

I have restored the Ipod - about 8 or 9 times (I've lost count), and the problem persists.
I've used both Ephpod and MusicMatch to upload music, but the problem happens with either one. I thought Itunes was just for Macs.
My firewire card is a VIA OHCI compliant IEEE 1394 Host Controller.
Any further suggestions?