ipod classic 120 freezing windows/preventing itunes from opening

[imfrustrated]

Hi, I've been having a very frustrating problem with my ipod classic 120. One day i plugged it in as usual to load some music on it and after that it has never worked. I put it in disc mode and tried to format it and all that business but nothing will make it work. there is no sad ipod icon and the harddrive isnt seizing or anything. i put it through diagnostic mode and everything works fine. When I plug it into a computer now it takes forever for windows to recognize it (reads it as a j drive now because i tampered with that trying to figure out the problem). Once windows does recognize it if i try to open itunes it will simply not open until i disconnect the ipod (when disconnected the backlight stays on and says okay to disconnect in disk mode). When i try to use the center and menu keys to restart it i get the use itunes to restore screen. another issue ive had is if i go to my computer and see the ipod and right click it in an attempt to format it will completely freeze the window. once the window is frozen i have to end the process and proceeding that i get a blank screen with just my desktop for 10 or 15 seconds, no task bar, no icons, just the background. i feel like ive tried everything to fix this thing, has anyone ran into anything like this? is there any way i can just wipe this thing completely and start fresh?

thanks for any help!