How to upgrade iPad2 to iOS5 without deleting my photos & apps etc

Have a look at this article How to back up your data and set up as a new device

Basically you'll have to make sure to back up manually by right clicking on your device in the device list and choosing "backup", then do the same again to transfer your purchases. Make sure you have at least one contact and event listed on your computer, to be able to merge data when you sync for the first time.

Contacts and photos taken with the ipad are part of the backup, see this article: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4079

Photos can also be copied to your computer, as explained here: Copying personal photos and videos from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your computer

Message was edited by: Ingo2711

If you have iTunes on any computer, go to iTunes > Preferences > Device Preferences and check the box that says to Prevent iPads from syncing automatically.

That way, you will be able to upgrade without losing anything on your iPad.

If you don't have iTunes on a computer, you can TRY to upgrade via the Apps application, but I don't know if you can do that before IOS5 is installed on your iPad.

Unfortunately, you still need a computer with iTunes to ugrade to IOS5. Afterwards, you won't need a computer, but you do need one to get to IOS5.

It is available now.

You can't update your firmware without letting iTunes delete and restore your ipad.

But it works, I just updated my iPhone4 to the new iOS5. And I did not lose contact info or any other data like photos for example.

It took iTunes 30min to upgrade the software and another 30min to transfer the apps and music back to my device.

First I checked for updates for my MacOS and installed them. After the computer has been restarted, I connected my phone to iTunes, backed up the phone, downloaded the update without installing.

After that I launched iTunes again, connected the phone and let iTunes do the work. An hour later my data,

settings, apps and other media were back on my phone.

There are a few settings for the use of iCloud that you have to make before your home screen will show up, but after that you're "back in business".

i did this and update worked perfect first time and everything is working great. thanks 🙂

Yes. your data will be removed, but don't panic: everything will be restored. You just need to be patient.

See my post here: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3375376?answerId=16343699022#16343699022

I am going through the same dilemma. I just successfully updated my iPhone 4 to IOS5 but my iPad 2 is synced to my home computer but I am currently traveling so no access to that. If I do the iPad 2 update using my Macbook Air, it might be able to update it but how can it restore the photos, music and videos since those all reside on my home computer. (I can re-download the apps but not sure if the data files are going to be intact).

Has anyone tried updating iPad 2 using a computer other than the it syncs with? Thanks.

That sounds like a solution but cannot you expand on the steps you did to avoid deletion of stuff on the iPad while upgrading to IOS5, just wanted to make sure I don't screw up and wipe everything while I am still on the road. Thanks.

What check boxes in the apps, music and photo tabs are you talking about? I don't see a checkbox in any of them.

In iTunes, when you sync your device, select that device in the panel on the left.

You wil see a series of pages with tabs at the top. If you go to the appropriate page, you will see the check boxes mentioned.

Happy New Year everyone, I'm also experiencing problems updating my ipad 2 to IOS 5 I keep getting this message there was aproblem downloading the software for the ipad 2 the network connection timed out, make sure your network settings are correct or your network connection is active or try later. What can I do??? A million thanks

Try updating in a diffrent computer?