Simple Restore Problem

I'm trying to restore a new replacement original Ipad 64 3gS with WiFi from the backup in my itunes. I backed up my previous Ipad without issue on Tuesday and received the new replacement on Wednesday. I do not have Jailbreak or any other apps mentioned in other posts about restoring problems. I let the restore run for about 20 hours and it was only complete about 50%. I shut the computer down and restarted the restore. It's been running about 7 hours and is only about 33% complete. Oh, when I shut the computer down after 20 hours, the Ipad showed Restore Complete, but not everything (apps, pictures, etc...) had restored. When I restarted the process, Itunes still recogized it as a new ipad and gave me the option to restore from a backup or set up as a new ipad. What gives? Should I let it keep running or is there definitely a problem. I found the backup files for the Ipad. It's only 175 MB! I do not have a lot of data on the ipad (but I do have quite a few apps). I do not think starting it as a new ipad would not cause too many MAJOR headaches, but if you think this thing will actually compete the restore, I dont mind giving it a couple of days to do so. Anyone else run into the same problem? I have itunes on a Dell Mini with my music, pictures, etc... on a portable hard drive. The back up file is on the dell mini, itself. I've never had problems backing up the ipad with every sync. It never took very long to backup.

Does restore try to put all apps and music on the new ipad? I assumed it would restore first and then sync. Do I have to have my portable harddrive attached? It was attached the during the first attempt, but it is not attached now during the second attempt.

I was thinking my memory on the dell mini may be the problem, but I'm still able to do stuff (like find this site and post this question) while Itunes and the restore is running in the background.

PS...after the first 20 hours of Restore in Progress and 50% complete, it said I have 20+ hours remaining. After the second 7 hours of Restore in Progress and 33% complete, it says I have 13 hours remaining and that keeps growing.

Ok, I stopped it again. This time it again said Restore Complete but when I reconnected it to itunes, itunes recognized it as my old ipad. I guess that's progress. I am syncing now, which I know will take a long time. None of my music or apps were on it. Who knows what I really lost? I probably will not miss it, but this really concerns me as far as putting data on the ipad in the future and needing to restore at some point.