iPad: The Missing Manual, 5th Edition

Appendix B. iPad Troubleshooting and Care

You’ll learn to:

• Restart a stuck iPad

• Back up and restore your iPad

• Update your iPad’s software

• Locate a lost or stolen iPad

• Find an iPad repair shop

LIKE MOST ELECTRONIC GADGETS, the iPad always works perfectly fine—until it doesn’t. Many iPad woes are common and pretty easy to fix—the battery ran all the way down, for example, and needs to charge up before iTunes recognizes your iPad. You can solve less obvious glitches by adjusting something in the Settings area, as explained in Appendix A.

But the iPad and its Mini-Me are computers themselves, and they can exhibit bigger problems that require more than flipping a setting—and may even need the help of a technical expert. Figuring out what your tablet is trying to tell you when it’s sick is the first step in getting it back to good health. This chapter explains what to do if your iPad starts acting weird—and where to go if you can’t fix it yourself or need more info.

In 2012, Apple introduced a revamped version of its AppleCare extended warranty for its prized tablet. Now dubbed AppleCare+ for iPad, this new $99 insurance policy covers a variety of potential iPad mishaps, and you’ll find out about that here, too.

Troubleshooting Basics

IF YOUR IPAD IS freezing up, crashing, or acting erratically, here are some common tricks to try:

• Restart the iPad. Just as with a computer that’s behaving badly, sometimes ...