Col was asleep when this all was happening. Normally i read the news on my iPad but this morning I read this thread. Oh my poor Marie what a pickle she got her self into......seems super Scott and the team may have resolved the issue.
In saying that i will give my 2 cents worth.
1). I have found when supporting other users here in Aus that. Most problems that occur with back up are due to one or a combination of the following.
1) corrupt application
2) corrupted os ie windows 7 problem which in turn causes iTunes problems.
3) virus problems windows xp, vista, win7 issues not on Macs.
4) corrupted back up file on pc.
5) faulty cable
It is difficult to isolate however removing Recently installed apps from the iPad can resolve the issue if all has been ok in the past. Remember one can reload apps from iTunes store at no charge.
One issue that seems to be common with home users and for that fact small business users is the lack of hard drive backup.
In most cases that i have supported there was no full back up of the os.
I am a believer of back up because if something goes wrong it is the fastest way to restore back in time when all was ok. It is critical to back up important personal data if not daily at least weekly. I in fact use 2 backup drives on my Mac 1 drive backs up mon, wed, fri, the second tues, thurs, sat. That eliminates having the back up corrupted as one is behind the other.
As i said earlier it is hard to isolate. Removing apps is usually my first move then see what happens. I also have had corrupted Picts on one iPad I looked at and provided support. Manual control of backup and syncing is important as it allows testing by turning off apps or Picts or music .
Then if all else fails one can restore the pc and or mac back using backups and in theory that fixes it.
Maybe I am lucky but i have had no issues with backup since the beginning. I did have several corrupt apps ( using beta 4.2) however that was more about crashing on the iPad than back ups.
I have 2 iPads now 2 iPhones plus a iPod touch, and Apple tv and use a MacBook for all of the above 5 adults in house. They sync from same MacBook. Backup is dual 250gb hard drives. I do hope Marie,s issue is resolved .
