iPad Sync is Taking Forever

I have had my iPad since about a month after they came out and hadn't had any issues with it until recently. I started to have sync issues with my iPad; it would take forever for it to sync with my laptop, and when I say forever I am talking 7 hours! It shouldn't take that long to sync a 32GB iPad even if I was using the entire 32GB. When a sync problem arises there are plenty of potential culprits to place the blame on. In this article I am going to tell you some things to try to solve your long iPad sync issue.

One of the first things to do is make sure you are using the iPad USB cable and not an iPhone or iPod USB cable. I have read the debate that all cables work the same but I called Apple and they told me that you are supposed to use the iPad cable not and iPod or iPhone cable. I have used both but I guess it can lead to slower sync times if you have the wrong cable. So if you were using your iPhone cable switch to the iPad cable and see if it fixes your slow sync issue.

If a new cable didn't fix the problem then you might want to try another USB port on your computer. Some USB ports can have lower power output, slower connection speeds (USB 1.1 vs. 2.0), or simply not work any longer (all things that could affect your sync speed). Try a few different ports and see if this helps.

The USB power could also be a problem on a laptop vs. a desktop computer, some laptops USB hubs just aren't powerful enough to support the sync of the iPad (usually older laptops) and you might want to test it on a newer laptop or a desktop. This might clear up your slow sync issue.

Sometimes applications on your iPad can cause the slow sync issue, I have read that many applications can cause problems when syncing an iPad. The most common programs that cause slow sync issues were ComicZeal4, GoodReader, and Zinio. Try uninstalling the application and running the sync again. If the sync works better, you might want to stay away from whatever application caused the issue with your sync.

Antivirus programs are another possible problem, often times an AV product can scan transfers and can make the sync go very slow. You can try temporarily disabling your antivirus program and run a sync to see if it works better.

You should also make sure that you have the latest version of iTunes installed on your PC. If you have an older version of iTunes it might be causing your problems, you also might have a bad install or iTunes, and you can try reinstalling iTunes as well and see if this solves your sync issue. Get the latest version of iTunes HERE

Basically the best thing to do is go through the steps one at a time and try to pin point what is causing your sync issue, so in the future you know what to do to avoid a long sync time. Your iPad shouldn't take more than maybe 15 minutes tops to sync if it's working properly.

Well I hope this guide helps you to solve your iPad syncing issue.