I'm trying to help a friend with an iPad problem but the solution (if any) is beyond my ability.

He has a new iPad 2. They were given to many employees by his employer. It had a number of pre-installed apps.

His problem is trying to update the pre-installed apps. He created his own account and can buy and update new apps but he's stuck on the pre-installed ones. He can see the account name (it's an email address) but the IT department doesn't have the password and the email address doesn't reply. He assumes his company made a bulk purchase (there were maybe 100 given out) and a 3rd party vendor pre-installed the apps.

The free apps are not a problem. He can delete those and then download them again to his own account. However, he would like to be able to update the paid apps and he can't do that without the password.

I can't think of any solution but maybe the online Genius Bar here can come up with something.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

There is no solution, other than to either find out the password, or delete the paid apps and buy them into his own account.

The AppStore is built safely and restrictive, so there is no legal workaround of updating the apps without having access to the purchaser account.

contact the vendor.