Generic mp3 player has lost its mind

Question

i have a generic {chipod} that originally worked fine. {a day and a half} now when you turn it on all you get is an hourglass. when you plug it into the computer it is marked as unknown device and searches for the drivers. i have another nearly identical player that gets recognized so i know the drivers are there. and i have the cd as well. yet this one the computer tells me it cant find the drivers for.{it did originally} i do not know how to force a reformat and reinstall the firmware. any suggestions?