iPod Nano

My nano has never been plugged into firewire, but whenever it has battery, it displays an error message saying "FireWire connections are not supported, to transfer songs, please connect the USB cable provided Press Center to dismiss" I pressed center but it wont go away. After awhile it seems to time out, but it only displays a blank list menu, no options, just the "ipod" silver bar at the top. It wont play music, and when i plug it into the computer Windows says the device has malfunctioned and is not recognized. I cannot Restore it becuase the computer doesnt recognize it. Please help