Iphone iphone could not be restored. The device can't be found?

I updated to the latest software (iOS5, or whatever it is as of Sept.2013) and now my phone is stuck on a screen that has a picture of the itunes symbol and says "itunes" beneath it. Beneath that is a little white arrow; beneath that is picture of the USB chord. All the tutorials I found also have this picture and none of them can help me. I will list what they say and WHY it hasn't helped me just in case that will help you answer my question. I did not list it because I know what I'm doing, so please do not judge.

THIS DID NOT WORK:
1.Close iTunes then go to Start menu on your PC
2. My Computer
3.C:\
4.Windows
5.System 32
6.Drivers, etc
7.Host
8.Open NOTEPAD in administrator mode
THESE NEXT STEPS HAVE VARIED DEPENDING ON THE TUTORIAL. IF YOU KNOW OF BETTER TUTORIALS, Please DIRECT ME THERE. Thank you in advance!
9.Open Host file in notepad(sometimes looks like "Host, etc" or just "etc", same thing) one tutorial says to just use it while another tutorial says to make a duplicate of the original and save for emergencies, and then go ahead and change the original host file.
10.Delete all text related to GS. Apple.com OR leave all text then add additional text from the website www.fixerrorcodesnow.com
11.Save (then choose "yes" when it asks if you want to replace original file) and exit. You're done.

? What should I do? I don't know which one is correct?

THIS IS WHY I Can't USE ANY TUTORIALS I HAVE FOUND:
There's no c:\windows on my desk top
It actually says "hp_recovery(c:\)"
When I click on it, there's only a folder that says "recovery"
When I click on the folder labeled "recovery" it is empty.

When I get the "device could not be found" error… What I do is, is I close iTunes, unplug my iPod, plug it back in, than start iTunes… Than most of the time it will detect it and work again… Although it sometimes can be a real pain in the @ss about it and takes multiple tries… Although you may just have to accept that fact that apple sh! T is really really buggy and they usually don't care. They got yo money, they're done.