While downloading the latest software

Question

While downloading the latest software version for my 32GB iTouch from the iTunes store a message appeared on the screen after about 5 minutes stating that a major fault had been detected and that I would have restore the original iPod settings thus losing anything I would have loaded from the initial registration stage. When I initiated this instruction the system appeared to be progressing through the process OK but after a few minutes the following message appeared: "The iPod "iPod" could not be restored. An unknown error has occurred". I repeated the process several times with the same outcome. My iTouch is now dead and the screen is just showing the iTunes symbol with a picture of the an iPod connector pointing in the direction of the iTunes symbol. I would appreciate any help you can give.