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Very Slow iPad Backup/Sync

I've seen a number of posts here about extremely slow backup/sync speeds and may have stumbled across the answer in one of them. I'm posting this in hopes of saving people with similar issues time when searching (and because I can't bring myself to post a "this worked for me" response to all of the threads I found on the issue).

My iPad seemed to be taking forever to backup and sync. It would eventually finish, but it was a go make myself a pot of coffee while it updates the 2 podcasts that are new kind of thing. Really irritating.

I didn't realize that I had been using the sync cable that came with my 1st Gen iPhone. It's universal, right?

Apparently, not. When I swapped out the old cable with the new one, it flew through the sync. How to tell the difference (at least on mine): The USB connector on the old one has sharp corners. The corners on the new one are rounded. That's the only difference I can see, but it made all the difference in the world.

17" iMac Core2Duo, Mac OS X (10.5)

Posted on Apr 6, 2010 3:51 PM

423 replies

Jun 18, 2010 10:47 AM in response to MadTater

A Time Capsule backup is a bit different than an iPad backup. The info on your iPad resides in iTunes or in the case of Zinio on the web, so a back up is not necessary. Your videos, music, books, etc are all stored and transferred via iTunes. I did restore of my iPad after jailbreaking it and put everything back in 20 mins. I installed Zinio and it put my magazines back. No backups for me. I personally think you are wasting your time with this.

Jun 18, 2010 4:46 PM in response to Tim Harbison1

I'm already using the correct iPad sync cable, and my backups all have to now be cancelled due to the length of time they take. This started happening this week, when I upgraded to iTunes 9.2.

In fact, just copying a couple of TV shows over to my iPad takes over 45 minutes per show (they're hour long ... well, 46 minutes w/o commercials). What is iTunes doing - watching the darned things while copying?

ohertel

Level 1

0 points

Jun 19, 2010 5:45 AM in response to jtc4142

I just had an announced 11 hour 'restore from backup'.

I got annoyed a lot and then moved around a bit the small 'restoring' window on my pc (win7,64bit)... and guess what? The time sped up immensely. Moving it around shortened the restore to 1 minute.

So the 'bug' is apparently in iTunes, probably some kind of prio borkage for the thread doing the actual work.

=)

Message was edited by: ohertel

Jun 22, 2010 10:45 AM in response to Tim Harbison1

I have been trying to sync my boys iPad the whole day now and i think i will just give up.The back-up stage seems to be the problem,ive tried deleting almost all apps,all the music,videos and movies but still no joy.Ive already restored just a week ago and im now truly fed uo.I may attempt again with ios4 come the fall!
HayHo

Jun 23, 2010 4:27 AM in response to hillclimber100

Not sure what the problem is but have you tried simply turning off the backup and syncing? I have installed the latest iTunes and my syncs fly. I have movies, tv shows, music, the dreaded Zinio app, and quite a few more and they all sync as normal and lightning fast.

Try disabling the backup and see how this improves things.

Jun 23, 2010 9:29 AM in response to Don Trammell

Cheers for the heads up Don,heres where i stand as of now.I restored again last night and i have i installed music and videos, i decided to do the apps one by one after i read about problems with the Zinio App,i performed a sync with The Zinio App and it was all going great with a sync time of 35 secs.Then i installed the National Geographic World Atlas HD App and my 35 secs turned into 3 hrs plus,this i presume is my problem.I have checked the box that says 'prevent ipods and ipads from automatically syncing' but i cannot see anything saying disable back ups.Maybe there will be a update for World Atlas and everything in the world will be rosie again 🙂
Thanks,Gav

Jun 23, 2010 9:34 AM in response to hillclimber100

Hi Gav,

My backup disabler solution is for Mac OS X, but I think if you Google: "disable iTunes backup in windows" it will hopefully provide you with a solution. I know it is as simple as setting a flag but I do not know enough about Windows to tell you where to look.

Sorry mate.

Just found this:

http://www.eidac.de/?p=60

Hope this helps.

Jun 23, 2010 11:31 AM in response to Don Trammell

Ohhh Don, that looks all a bit tricky for me ,i will just do without the apps for now until there is a proper solution.Think i paid for that bloody app aswell,i thought that if i just use iPad specific apps there would be no probs,ah well live and learn.
Gav.

Jun 23, 2010 11:33 AM in response to hillclimber100

Hey Gav,

If you send me the file, I will edit it for you. I've done this kind of stuff plenty of times.

Jun 23, 2010 12:31 PM in response to Don Trammell

OMG Don my man, I don't even know how to save the file for you.But if this problem starts again I will definitely have to take action,I'm quite new to Apple and I'm just finding my feet for now.I cannot believe how helpful people are on here, I wish the rest of my life had a support system that spans the globe of helpful intelligent people 🙂

Jun 23, 2010 12:37 PM in response to Don Trammell

My boy says that the iPad has been disconnecting from wi-fi all day ,he says he restarts it and its okay again for a while although I have not witnessed this- there could be trouble ahead!

Jun 23, 2010 1:11 PM in response to ohertel

What is the "restore" window you mention and where is it on the screen?

Jun 23, 2010 1:45 PM in response to gpacadillac

On iTunes screen when you connect to sync there are two buttons : check for update and below that restore
Gav.

Jun 26, 2010 8:15 AM in response to Geekrk

I can confirm that at least for me, disabling both Smart Firewall and Antivirus in Norton 360 on Win7 also worked. It dropped my backup from something over an hour to around a minute after I disabled both. Re-enabling them and syncing again brought the slowness back.

m4ko

Level 1

0 points

Jun 27, 2010 7:06 AM in response to rick_thompson

Hello guys,

I have the same issues with my iPad. Synchronizing is fast. But backups are AWFULLY slow. Depending on which apps I used it can take many minutes to complete!

I have written two programs to identify long backup sessions of iTunes on windows machines. Both are simple C# programs.

1. One program will identify all files in the backup folder. So you know which app takes up what amount of disk size and has what amount of files. This will already give you plenty of information. On my machine one german newpaper app is really awfull. It had over 1000 files in its backups!

2. The second program should be startet right before an backup process. Then when you start the backup you will see all files being written LIVE! Including how long the file took and also how long all files of a specific app took. You can do this for a whole backup (by deleting / moving the original backup) or even for an update-backup.

I can now easily identify which programs save lots of files and take lots of time during iTunes backup. I am willing to share those programs with others. Is it ok to post links to those programs in this forum?

These programs will not be able to "fix" this sync problem. However you might find that "one stupid app" that slows it immensely and you can also try out how much faster the backup gets with different cables and/or antivirus programs.

Very Slow iPad Backup/Sync