This is just a quick post to help anyone else who was the predicament I was in and can not find a straightforward solution. I found myself in a situation where I ended up with a fresh computer with no record of any iTunes files and wanted to get my iPad synced up again. Or, it was as if I was syncing my iPad to a new computer for the first time. There are dozens of sites with this question, but no clear answer. I didn’t care about my music or movies, because I still had all of that on my computer, what I was worried about was saving my app data (i.e. Angry Birds data, notes I had written, or drawings I had made.)

My concern arose because when you first plug your iPad into a new computer and start to try an sync it you get a very scary message.

Granted this pic is from the iPhone, not iPad, but the message is about the same. When it says the contents will be erased, that is quite alarming. So, I searched around the Internet for a while and very few people addressed the issue of apps when it came to this. Most people were worried about their music, but I don’t have a lot of music and any that I do I have on my computer already. So what to do?

The first thing I did was that I made sure that I did not sync my iPad at that time.

The first step you do want to take after you plug your iPad into the computer is to right-click on your devices name and select transfer puchases.

This ensures that all of your apps are copied off of you iPad and into the iTunes folder (a sub-folder of My Music on Windows PCs) so that if your iPad does get erased you are covered.

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Next, I forced iTunes to backup my iPad. This turned out to really not be helpful or necessary but it made me feel better. To force iTunes to perform a full backup I went to C:\Documents and Settings\{your username}\Application Data\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup and renamed the folder there to backup old. Then, in iTunes I checked (or unchecked) the box next to encrypt backup.

This will take a few minutes.

Now, having transferred your purchases and backed up your device, you can sync it. Tell it to erase all of your data and it will simple recopy your apps onto your iPad and all of your files and saved games will still be there. I did not expect this to happen, but that is what happened for me. My iPad is jailbroken so I had perform a tethered re-boot, but everything was still there. The only downside is that all of the apps are out of place and your folders will be gone, but that is easy enough to fix.

If something goes horribly wrong, you can restore from the backup you made, but this will reverse the process and you will still not be able to sync to your computer.

Also, I think, if you only tell it to sync apps it won’t touch the music on your iPad. This is what other sites seem to suggest, but I didn’t try. What I did try though, was that I synced some different videos with the iPad from my computer, and I got the message about erasing things, and the sync didn’t touch my apps. So, I would think that just syncing the apps wouldn’t touch whatever music you have on your device.

Hopefully this helps you feel comfortable with the switch. Basically, the message is a little bit of overkill, as long as you have the apps you need on your computer as well as the iPad already.