Cannot Activate iPad IOS 9.3

Turned off antivirus softs on pc. It doesnt work. Error: activation. Ipad 3 GSM.

So, I finally got my iPad2 (GSM model) to work. Here's how:

- my error message was:

Your iPad could not be activated because the activation service is temporarily unavailable,"

I followed the Support web site until I got to the page about that error. I have iTunes on a Windows 7 computer, so I followed the instructions until I got to the iPad display of the connector plug with the arrow pointing to the iTunes icon. My computer displayed the form as shown, and I chose "Update".

Steps 5 and 6 of the instructions are critical. Believe them. You will probably have to be very patient and restart the whole process several times.

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5. iTunes will try to reinstall iOS without erasing your data. If it takes more than 15 minutes, your iPad will exit recovery mode, and you'll need to repeat steps 2 and 3 again.

6. After the update is complete, you need to leave your iPad connected to the computer and complete the activation setup process for your iPad using iTunes. If iTunes doesn't recognize your iPad after the update is complete, disconnect your iPad and reconnect it to the computer. If it still doesn't appear, try to connect it to another computer to complete the setup process.

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Windows kept having to find new device drives at various stages in the update process, and iTunes or the restore process would time out, and I would have to start over at the beginning of the whole process. Must have done that about 7 times.

At one point, the restore messages on my computer did not change for 30 minutes, but suddenly, we were off and making progress again. The last "freeze" was when joining my local WiFi network. The "join" process screen froze. A power down and restart resulted in my original screen on my iPad. The whole process took over 2 hours, with all the waiting and restarts back at the beginning of the process.

Gag. What a disaster!! And, the apple support folks I talked with (about 4 over this whole time) kept saying the only thing I could do was to restore the original factory settings and start with a clean fresh iPad. They were not willing to try the sequence above. they get a ZERO for being helpful.

Thank you. The Apple Store said it was hopeless and tried to sell us a new Ipad. Thank you for the careful and complete directions.

Thanks, Susan.

Got my iPad2 + 3G working through the 9.3 fix update that Apple put out as well, and you are right - believe the part about it taking 2-3 tries (or more in my case), and be patient. I took me 4 hours to complete the process. I took out my sim card before doing anything but don't know if that had a positive effect or not. There was a point in the process when it prompted me to put it in to update carrier settings but I bypassed that.

I got an ERROR 9 when my iPad was at the loading screen and figured out after some research on these forums that it was a cable issue. I subbed my husband's original Apple cable for a 3rd party one I was using and Voila! it completed loading after a VERY, VERY, VERY, LONG TIME.

Another thing to look out for - If you've done the step where you put your iPad into recovery mode a couple times because of timing out, and your iTunes gives you a pop up screen that says your iPad can't be updated and it gives you just a single button for restore, simply hit escape or cancel the box because behind it there will be another box in iTunes to choose update. BE PATIENT - This may take many repetitions.

You may indeed have to unplug and replug your device a couple times, and if you haven't backed up in a while or you have lots of apps that need updating like I did, ITS GOING TO TAKE A LOOOONG TIME. I had to sync my iPad 5 times before it stopped giving me an error that I didn't have enough space to reload the updated apps, but eventually it did.

My reward is a working iPad with updated apps and ABSOLUTELY NO DATA LOSS.

Sorry for all the caps, but I can't stress enough that the key here seems to be patience and letting your iPad go through the necessary process however long it takes.

I had trouble getting 9.3.1 activated in iCloud on my new iPhone. Realized I could actually connect to iCloud when NOT on wifi. Reset my router and this cleared things up and I was able to sign/in and activate while on wifi and backup the device.

Me too. 3rd gen iPad with cellular capabilities. Restore, well, many restores, didn't fix. Haven't tried the IPSW fix suggested by a few here yet. First had this problem when updating from iOS 7.1.1 to 9.3.1. I waited for 9.3.2, still same problem after restoring.

Keep getting this

how to activate or set up ipad2?