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iPad and laptop question, computer expert help needed (:

Nfs

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Hey guys, I have a question that I am unsure you will be able to help me with

So my laptop has been playing up for a while now part of the reason why I wanted a iPad :)

Where I bought my laptop they are advising me to get my laptop send back to factory settings, I am worried about doing this or even getting. A new laptop because of the fact that all my apple devices are synced with this laptop, (dam u apple for only letting our devices be connected to 1 laptop)

So what my question is, will my devices remember my laptop after it bes reset to factory settings?


If there is anyone out there that has had a problem and had to connect their iPhone or iPad to a new laptop could you tell me how you done it and what you lossed?

Thanks in advance!
 

AQ_OC

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No, it won't. Proceed with caution. There is a way to backup your itunes folder and restore it to a new laptop. Or you can backup to the cloud, but I'd advise doing both.

If you google for backing up your itunes folder so you can transfer to another PC, you should find instructions.
 
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Nfs

Nfs

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No, it won't. Proceed with caution. There is a way to backup your itunes folder and restore it to a new laptop. Or you can backup to the cloud, but I'd advise doing both.

If you google for backing up your itunes folder so you can transfer to another PC, you should find instructions.

Thank you for your reply, I will have to look this up and give it a go.. Is it very technical tho? Or would I be able to do this with general knowledge of computers?

Maybe I should just look it up and try work that out for myself :) thanks anyway I will report back when I get round to this.
 

Bosvaark

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Nfs said:
Thank you for your reply, I will have to look this up and give it a go.. Is it very technical tho? Or would I be able to do this with general knowledge of computers?

Maybe I should just look it up and try work that out for myself :) thanks anyway I will report back when I get round to this.

It can be tricky, but the iTunes folder lives in the music folder by default,
The whole procedure is well documented on Apple support, the most important aspect are the steps to consolidate your iTunes media library.
If media has been added to iTunes , those locations need to be the same when your laptop is restored.
Media being:
Mp3
Movies
Books

Sometimes it is best to pay a consultant to do the whole laptop data backup and restore , including iTunes and then the restoration and synch of your devices.
Having done this for clients it is generally a 2-3 hour job, depending how complicated their iTunes library is.
Good luck , and double check your backups
 

Gabriel1

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One method, which I have used before, is to make a bootable clone of your laptops HD onto an external HD, then you can use any computer which can boot the clone and/or, transfer the bootable clone onto a new laptop. I do this anytime I get a new Mac and it has always worked like a dream.

The Archangel
 
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Nfs

Nfs

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This had been running through my brain for so long, and my laptop is a disaster because it keeps crashing and turns off then can't turn it self back on.. This will obviously be a problem to try and do this back up, but I think I'm going to just give it ago because it is annoying me and I have another laptop that is perfect that I would rather have my devices connected to.

What is the worst that can happen? I mean what is the worst thing I can loss?
 

Gabriel1

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Nfs said:
This had been running through my brain for so long, and my laptop is a disaster because it keeps crashing and turns off then can't turn it self back on.. This will obviously be a problem to try and do this back up, but I think I'm going to just give it ago because it is annoying me and I have another laptop that is perfect that I would rather have my devices connected to.

What is the worst that can happen? I mean what is the worst thing I can loss?

The worst thing is that without any kind of backup then you would lose everything on your existing laptop. Of course, as you have a new laptop and assuming your problem with your existing laptop isn't related to the HD, then you could consider removing the HD and putting it in a caddy so that you can boot it directly from your new laptop. I don't know about windows but with a Mac you can boot one Mac's HD directly from another Mac without any kind of surgery.

My advice would be to get in the habit of making regular bootable clones of your new laptop straightaway, it will save you going through this again in future

The Archangel
 

AQ_OC

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I agree with the Archangel. You need to learn to do good, regular backups anyhow. Now is the time to start.

If you are going to get a new laptop, then keep your old one around (don't restore it to anything, leave it as is). It will have your itunes stuff on it. That hard drive can be used to transfer to your iTunes to your new computer, bring everything into the proper location from the old one to the new one. Basically, you would just connect the old hard drive from the old laptop to you new laptop via USB. You can start using your new laptop. Your old laptop doesnt need to die the minute you bring the new one home, so you have some time to work through this. Please don't feel you need to rush.

I'd also consider doing a cloud backup too, so that all your apps have their data backed up (if you don't have a lot of actually data, you could just decide to nuke your iPad and reinstall all of it once your new laptop is up, but proceed with great caution on this). I don't like being tried to a single computer anyhow. I make sure my important stuff is accessible from some place other than iTunes, a pig of a program, at least on a Windows PC.

Suns up. Gotta go wash my car!
 
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Nfs

Nfs

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The worst thing is that without any kind of backup then you would lose everything on your existing laptop. Of course, as you have a new laptop and assuming your problem with your existing laptop isn't related to the HD, then you could consider removing the HD and putting it in a caddy so that you can boot it directly from your new laptop. I don't know about windows but with a Mac you can boot one Mac's HD directly from another Mac without any kind of surgery.

My advice would be to get in the habit of making regular bootable clones of your new laptop straightaway, it will save you going through this again in future

The Archangel

I don't really know what is wrong with my laptop, but this other one I am going to be transferring to isn't mine, it is shared..

I don't really know how to do this cloning that you are talking about, I am using a windows computer.. My old laptop is windows vista and the new laptop is windows 7 will this be a problem?

I found this on the Internet and it sound more do-able in to me, I know some more than other people about computer, but not a great deal at the same time.
How to move my iPhone back-up to a new PC - PC Advisor
 

AQ_OC

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I found this on the Internet and it sound more do-able in to me, I know some more than other people about computer, but not a great deal at the same time.
How to move my iPhone back-up to a new PC - PC Advisor

Very good. Yes, this should be exactly what you want, especially if you are not doing anything other than letting iTunes manage where your files are. iPhone, iPad, iPod...all the same as far as iTunes is concerned.
 
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Nfs

Nfs

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Very good. Yes, this should be exactly what you want, especially if you are not doing anything other than letting iTunes manage where your files are. iPhone, iPad, iPod...all the same as far as iTunes is concerned.

I have 2 iPhones and an iPad, all with different apps and things on them.. When I back them up on iTunes and then coping the iTunes folder over will it know this? Or will ALL my apps end up going on all my devices and then it is up to me to delete which ever ones?
 

AQ_OC

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Nfs said:
I have 2 iPhones and an iPad, all with different apps and things on them.. When I back them up on iTunes and then coping the iTunes folder over will it know this? Or will ALL my apps end up going on all my devices and then it is up to me to delete which ever ones?

It should keep it all in tact. However you need to be careful that you don't change the settings on the new iTunes and that you have things set up correctly in the current iTunes. That latter concern of your has been an issue for me in general with iTunes.
 
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Nfs

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I'm going to try it out anyway, I already have iTunes installed on the new laptop, there may be some music saved in the library should I just delete everything of it and start fresh?

Should I also transfer purchases from all devices onto iTunes on the new laptop incase I loss them or will this create a problem?
 

AQ_OC

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Nfs said:
I'm going to try it out anyway, I already have iTunes installed on the new laptop, there may be some music saved in the library should I just delete everything of it and start fresh?

Should I also transfer purchases from all devices onto iTunes on the new laptop incase I loss them or will this create a problem?

Apps are no problem, you can get than back easily, as you can music, movies, and books that you have bought. But your data is what you need to back up, as well as any music, movies you have ripped.

I say give it your best shot.
 
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Nfs

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Apps are no problem, you can get than back easily, as you can music, movies, and books that you have bought. But your data is what you need to back up, as well as any music, movies you have ripped.

I say give it your best shot.

What do u mean by data? Do u mean like contacts or just files that help the computer remember the iPhone?

Sorry for so many questions :/
 

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