so im not a complete noob on technical stuff, im actually really into it. BUT...whenever i connect my new touch it says "sync in progress" when i have nothing to sync and it says backing up. What is this? Thanks,
it doesn't back up all the files. it just backs up small things like settings, app locations, bookmarks, calendar events, etc. this is so that if you ever have to restore your iPod, you can put the backup on your iPod when you're done so that the settings and app location and all that stay the same without you having to manually do it all over again.
Under Preferences > Devices, you'll see a checkbox for "Disable automatic syncing for iPhones and iPods" which will stop the auto syncing which I personally find annoying. You just have to manually sync it if you update stuff constantly.