How To Restore Locked iPad Air 4th Gen. with Home windows 10 and iTunes (2016/2020)

I put a sequence of finest practices to revive the iPad Air beneath after the lengthy paragraph description.

Description:

I spent about 4 hours determining the steps beneath to get my iPad Air restored shortly after buy. I didn’t have the password set in the course of the unique set up, so the iPad Air acquired in a locked state. I’ve a MacBook Professional that doesn’t run the most recent OSX. I can’t join and restore my iPad Air. I made a decision to do the restoration with a Dell laptop computer working Home windows 10 Residence version (Model: 2004, OS construct: 19041.985, Expertise: Home windows Characteristic Expertise Pack 120.2212.2020.0)

To begin with, there’s a main downside with the iTunes installer on Home windows.

I’ve seen the most recent variations of iTunes (12.10.11) do NOT set up the Cellular Gadget Assist Driver information. The one strategy to have them put in is by putting in an older model of iTunes(see beneath why). So mainly when you’ve got a brand new Home windows laptop with the most recent iTunes 12.10.11 from Dec 7.2020 you don’t get the driving force information. It signifies that if you put the iPad in restoration mode, Home windows doesn’t detect it if you join it to the pc over USB-C.

There may be little or no on-line about this problem and how you can resolve it correctly. A lot of the help ask to re-install iTunes, sadly, it’s a must to keep in mind that NOT ALL variations of iTunes are equal (this remark is directed to the help groups at Apple and Microsoft!).

I discovered one web site that would supply the driving force information by themselves to allow them to be dropped within the file system. I believed I’d search for the precise model of iTunes that will set up the driving force information.

I examined iTunes 12.10.11 64bit model from Dec 7, 2020, as defined, adopted by iTunes from Mar 25, 2019. Lastly, the iTunes 12.4.3 64bit from Aug 1, 2016, is the discharge that installs the driving force information. From that set up, it’s attainable to improve to the most recent iTunes, so you’ll set up the most recent model for August 15, 2021, which is model 12.10.11. It installs effectively over the 2016 model with out compromising the driving force information.

Now at that time, I believed I used to be good to go together with the right driver information put in on my Home windows machine. I put the iPad (Air) into restoration mode and acquired it linked to the Home windows machine. I heard the standard Home windows sounds when gadgets are linked (USB), I additionally nearly immediately heard the Home windows sound for disconnection. iTunes it will not present the iPad in any respect. The Home windows Gadget Supervisor wouldn’t record the iPad Air below Common Serial Bus controllers!

So my final transfer was to attach one other Apple system to see if the difficulty was associated to the iPad Air or iTunes. I linked my iPhone, UNLOCKED the display screen and the cellphone confirmed up in iTunes. Subsequent, I put the iPad Air in restore mode and linked to the pc, to my shock, iTunes acknowledged the iPad Air this time with the choice to revive it. From that time, I initiated a primary restoration which failed with an error message, adopted by a second restoration that succeeded.

Checklist of classes discovered and finest practices to revive the iPad (Air):

(Home windows 10 consumer solely)

1. If you do not have the iTunes model from August 1st, 2016, put in in your laptop, take away iTunes and re-install the iTunes 12.4.3 from 2016. It’ll assure you may have the right information below C:Program FilesCommon FilesAppleMobile Gadget Assist

2. Replace the iTunes to the most recent model, 12.10.11 (newest for this publish on August fifteenth 2021).

3. In case your iPad Air is in a locked state, and you do not have a password, join to a different Apple system and unlock the display screen. What it can do is assist iTunes to acknowledge the iPad Air afterward. That is a bizarre step, but it surely works.

4. Provoke the restoration of the Apple iPad Air (twice if wanted) by way of iTunes.

None of that is trivial and, by neglecting the iTunes installer deliverable, Apple generated an amazing quantity of help for each Microsoft and Apple on a process that needs to be trivial. The end result of the help doesn’t assist in the situation that I confronted. No posts at Microsoft or Apple addressed my wants. I do consider I’m not the one one scuffling with this problem and, just about each single consumer working Home windows 10 with a latest laptop would face the identical downside(scary!). We don’t anticipate to do a restoration on daily basis. On the minimal, we must always have the Home windows installer doing the right factor.