Im getting the following message on my itunes screen when I plug in my ipod 'iTunes has detected an iPod in recovery mode - Use iTunes to restore'. By restoring it is everything on my ipod erased?
Recovery mode basically means the iPod ran into a software issue or glitch and needs to be reloaded to erase the problem. It's pretty rare, but it happens. Restoring basically reinstalls the iPod software from scratch and gives you a clean slate, thus eliminating whatever problem may have cropped up.