I am having a problem updating my IPad gen3 to new OS.

I have an IPad gen3 and am having a hard time updating to the latest OS. When I started, I got the image on my screen indicating I should connect to ITunes, so I did using my laptop. After waiting a considerable time for software to download and install, I get a message that I must restore my IPad first. When I proceeded, I got a message indicating ITunes did not recognize my IPad. What do I do now?