This morning I found there was an update to version 4.3.3, and I decided to proceed with the update.

Somewhere during the update process I received a error message that lead me to attempt to restore the iPad.

During the process everything has been lost that I had previously purchased and downloaded and now the iPad is setting at the original factory settings.

Is it still possible to recover the lost apps and the notes that was saved in them? And what about recovering those apps that were purchased; seems like there must some way to at least restore those.

Any help is appreciated.

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Did you have a backup of your iPad using iTunes?

Hopefully one of our knowledgable iTunes experts will pop in and help.

Tim

Hi

Asuming that you had recently synced your ipad with itunes, all your precious apps will be there waiting for you.

Connect your now restored ipad to your pc or mac, wait until it appears in the left hand pane, and then click "Sync" in the bottom right of your screen.

If your data is up to date this should replace everything you have lost during the restore process.

Of course, anything you have downloaded directly from the app store and not backed up will be gone I'm afraid.

Backup is your best mate!!! Always.... I also do a monthly DVD backup of my data in case itunes should go belly up and need re-installation.

Let us know how you fair!

Do Not Sync Your Restored iPad.

It will create a new backup which will overwrite the one you 'might' be able to recover from.

Instead to into iTunes, Preferences, the Devices Tab, and look at the last backup. If it is before you the restore/update/whatever happened, then you should be able to recover most of the app data you lost. While you are there, turn off auto syncing.

Assuming your backup is there plug in your iPad, right click on it under the Devices list, and choose Restore from Backup.

When that is done, you still won't see your apps, but that is ok. Now you can sync, which should restore the Apps. It won't hurt to go to the Apps tab in iTunes and make sure syncing is turned on first.

If this does not work, frankly you've lost all the data that was in your apps, unless you do regular backups. If you do, you may be able to recover an older backup file and restore from it.

This assumes that your apps are in iTunes. If not you'll have to go to the App Store on the iPad and download them all again. Do this before you do anything else. Then use the Transfer Purchases option in iTunes to move the apps to iTunes before attempting to restore from the backup.

Disclaimer: I've never got myself into this situation, so I'm only reporting what should work (to the best of my knowledge).

Reference Link: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4079

Response to "Do not Sync your iPad" ..... Syncing is automatic whenever I plug in the iPad ..... it also does backups automatically ... sounds like I need to locate options to turn this feature off and do it manually on a periodic basis?

Unless the backups that are individual backups that can be selected, I am assuming they over-right every time I plug this thing in, thus loosing the programs downloaded.


Response to "Don't Panic Yet" ...... I am THERE!

I have tried re-sync-ing several times now .... the calendar is okay, contact lists are okay and even the pictures I have loaded are there .... but all the programs (free and otherwise) and music I have loaded have been removed from the iPad ....

You said something about backing up to a DVD, I am assuming you are talking about a backup of the PC directory under Programs called iTunes? and I assume this needs to be done frequently using the iTunes physical link-up to the iPad as purchases can be made directly from the iPad without using the PC .......


This event is really discouraging any further purchases by me of any apps ... software I purchase for my PC comes with CD or DVDs that allow restoring software after crashes ..... here, there is nothing .....


........

After some further looking around in the iTunes program I find a listing of all the programs that was downloaded under the Library tab -- of which 30 of them indicate updates are ready for download.

Since there is a listing of apps downloaded, is there an easy way to re-download these? A method of doing that is not immediately obvious. But I am still looking around.

Thanks to all that have responded to my S.O.S. !!!

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Since the last post, when in the Library menu, I found an option to Sync the iPad, and after crossing my fingers, holding my breath and answering Yes to Erase and Re-Sync (that phrase seems pretty scary) it appears that something positive is now happening with downloading applications and music.

I am sitting here hoping that all is okay ......

I hope

~~~~~

Originally Posted by IPAD1.2483

Since the last post, when in the Library menu, I found an option to Sync the iPad, and after crossing my fingers, holding my breath and answering Yes to Erase and Re-Sync (that phrase seems pretty scary) it appears that something positive is now happening with downloading applications and music.

I am sitting here hoping that all is okay ......

I hope

~~~~~

Oh, I certainly hope so! Big disaster averted?

from Somerset UK on my iPad using IPF app

I hope so too...and you never lose your apps - you can always download them again for free - iTunes keeps a record of every app you've ever purchased and you can download them again if they're lost or accidentally deleted.

Tim

Keeping my fingers crossed for you. For future reference, the poet noted the process he uses, which I've found to be excellent advice:

4.3.2 update / issues