Eh, this is why I steer clear of all things Apple....they lock you into their formats, and "their" way of doing things. Unfortunatly since I don't care for iPods and apple, I can't help you with that.
As far as HDD recovery, I got some good free software that will be able to restore anything for you, as long as it hasn't been physically ruined (physically destroyed or overwritten by other data). otherwise if the HDD is physically damaged, then it becomes costly (To the point of $1000 easily...). Drop me a line about what has happened to the HDD etc and I can sort you out.