iPad device icon not showing in iTunes when connected to Win PC

I just realized the problem might be that the iPad is not being seen by the Win PC, at least not in a file manager, even though most often the iPad Mini asks me to trust the computer, which of course I do. Strange because the same USB ports on the PC see USB flash drives, and the two Apple USB cables work fine.

After using USBDview to uninstall and reinstall the Apple USB items, I've now got the iPad recognized on my PC, that is until it drops for some reason, but iTunes is loading but the "circle" runs on and on until the "unknown error" mentioned in the OP. Any ideas?

To be clear, Windows is seeing the iPad, but the iTunes doesn't see the iPad. In the process of trying to make the connection, it struggles and then throws up the 'unknown error' message. How can I solve that? The iPad Photos screen mentioned in the OP is really something Windows (MS) throws up in seeing the iPad (its lower right error message may be part of the same problem though).

I uninstalled, rebooted and reinstalled iTunes. The good news so far is no error message and the PC recognizes the iPad. The bad is that iTunes is still not recognizing the iPad. What's next?