Yes, there is DEFINITELY an iPad related issue. I have a 32GB iPad and a 32GB iPhone. The iPhone backs up faster by 5 fold over the iPad that has the exactly same stuff except not my music. So 5 songs on the iPad and 500 on the iPhone and slower than snot.
Also - I had my library on my NAS device mirrored and 10x slower... I had to move the library to the desktop RAID 1 in order to make it usable... my iPad is not even 1/2 full...
Big time issue. Over an hour to backup every time, every morning is nuts. I wish someone figures this out... it's NOT quantity as my iPhone has more data and files and is WAY faster.
Make sure you're using the sync cable that came with the iPad. I found out the hard way that there is apparently a difference between that cable and those that shipped with iPhones and iPods. Made a world of difference for me. Go figure.
THe first time I did the sync with my 32gig Ipad it took over night and fished sometime while I was at work the next day. I call Apple and they said it should take no more then 30 min. When I got home I tried it again and sure enough it looked like another long wait. So I stopped it and then adjusted my setting in Itunes to me manageing my music and videos. I really think there is a syncing problem. And yes I was using the USB cable that came with it. And used 2 different USB ports.
What IS with the iPad 3G sync process? I've had mine two hours and still don't have half the stuff from my iPhone onto it. I want that first, before I start buying apps as to not duplicate unnecessarily
There are sync issues but I wanted to say don't be afraid to repurchase apps on your iPad. As long as you're using the same account, all previously purchased apps will download free if you ever download them again either on the iPad or the iPhone.
I don't know if those having this problem are on a 64-bit Windows OS, but that is the case with me.
On my 64-bit Windows 7, it has taken over 12 hours to "synchronize" my iPad. This has happened to both my WiFi and WiFi + 3G.
I've noticed if I go to C:\Program Files (x86)\iTunes\iTunes.exe, and right-click and "Run as Administrator", the synchronization completes much more quickly. The drawback to this, is that it seems to lose any drag-and-dropping of music or books to iTunes. (You can still go to File, Add File or Add Folder however.)
iTunes for Windows always runs worse than on my MacBook/OSX, but I don't think Apple has much incentive to improve things on the Windows side. It works just well enough, and we're locked into their ecosystem already anyway.
This has always been an issue; my iPod Touch is the same way, and I've had two of those. My iPad is the same.
I just don't even bother with backing up; i cancel it every time and move on to the rest of the sync. I've already got the apps, songs, podcasts and videos on the Mac's iTunes folder anyway, so there's my backup. If i need to i'll just re-sync everything like when i first got the device.
Sorry i cant be of more help to the original poster about the Restore function; i think that's something to start before you go to bed.
Backup takes hours on my 64Gig iPad. I hardly have anything on it. My iTouch backs up in minutes. The iPad takes hours. I have tried all cables and USB ports. iPads have a serious issue for backup. Unless you have hours to let it go, you have to kill the backup to get a sync to occur. Apple really needs to find a solution.
During backup you'll see a little x to the right of the "Backing up iPad" notice. Just click that and the backup aborts and it goes right into the syncing part. You can also cancel any part of the sync in the same way. It just moves on to the next part.
Thanks for this info. To re-iterate: iTunes 9.1.1.12 running on Windows 7 x64 has the slow syncing issue. Running as Administrator will fix that issue. I don't know how to log an issue with Apple though.
FWIW I suddenly started encountering very slow backups/syncs on my 64GB 3G iPad and my 24" Aluminum iMac. I followed the advice on another thread and removed the existing backup. The OP theorized that iPad backups can get corrupted.
After deleting the existing iPad backup I rebooted it (turned it completely off and back on) and then reconnected it to my iMac. The initial backup took some time, about an hour or so...not sure as I walked away for a while but it was still not nearly as long as it had been though. After my that backups have returned to normal, very snappy. I have about 40GB of files on my iPad and it takes less than 30 seconds to sync and back it up if I have minor changes...say added a new app, etc. So if your iPad's backup and sync have become slow, try deleting the existing backup and starting fresh.
*You can find and delete the iPad's existing backup here:*
- Connect your iPad (iTunes will automatically open). Go to iTunes Preferences > Devices. Your iPad's backup will be listed. Highlight that file and click on the "Delete Backup" button. (BTW if it doesn't list your iPad and says "Unknown device/backup" you can rest assured that your existing backup has been corrupted.) After deleting the backup disconnect your iPad and power it down. (I'm not certain that step is necessary but it worked for me.) Close iTunes. Power your iPad back up and connect it to your computer. Click on your iPad in the left-hand column. Click on "Sync" if it doesn't start automatically.
Apple needs to address this issue, I keep reading about using the wrong cable, corrupt backups and others but none of this makes sense. I strongly believe this has something to do with the iPad OS. I have an iPhone 3GS that was doing exactly the same as the iPad, taking too long to synch/backup. I tried all the cables I had without any improvement. When iPhone IOS4 came out I upgraded the OS on my phone and that took care of the problem on the phone, it now synchs in less than 5 minutes. The iPad with the old IOS is still taking well over 15 hours to backup.
APPLE - TAKE CARE OF THE IOS ON THE iPad AND THE BACKUP PROBLEM WILL GO AWAY
