Windows Won't Detect iPad Mini 2 to Sync Photos and Videos

Hey everyone, I'm having an issue with my laptop and my iPad Mini 2. First off, my laptop is running Windows 7 Home Premium x64 with iTunes 12.3, and my iPad Mini 2 is running iOS 9.3.1. The problem is, when I plug my iPad into my laptop and choose to trust this computer from the iPad, it doesn't appear in Computer; however, it will be detected in iTunes. All I want to do is sync the newest photos and videos from my iPad to my laptop, but I noticed that AutoPlay doesn't appear at all asking me to do so. How else can I sync my photos and videos to my computer? Any replies would be grateful. Thanks! :)

Does your iPad appear if you plug it to any other PC?

I would open Device Manager and look under Portable Devices to see if Apple iPad appears there. You should search on "Show hidden devices in Device Manager" and look under Portable Devices for Apple iPad and try to Uninstall any you find, then try plugging the iPad again.

Maxseven, I just tried plugging my iPad into my dad's laptop and it showed that it has successfully installed the Apple Mobile Device USB Driver, but it still doesn't list the iPad in Computer. Also, I opened Device Manager on my laptop and found that I have no directory called "Portable Devices" or even a device called "Apple iPad" anywhere. What do I do now?

Have you set Environment Variables in order to properly check for Hidden Devices?

https://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/77614-device-manager-hidden-devices.html

You say you show no Portable Devices in DevMgr: do you have a USB flash memory stick you could plug-in to test? How about an iPhone? Another iPad? Any of these should result in PD entries in DevMgr.

I finally found the Portable Devices section in Device Manager after following your instructions, and I did find that I have an Apple iPad listed, as well as my old Apple iPod. I did try plugging in my iPod Touch 4G to see if Windows would start syncing the photos and videos from the device, and it did. It also appeared in Computer under the Portable Devices section. Then, I tried plugging in my iPad and nothing appeared at all...

MusikCat said:

I finally found the Portable Devices section in Device Manager after following your instructions, and I did find that I have an Apple iPad listed, as well as my old Apple iPod. I did try plugging in my iPod Touch 4G to see if Windows would start syncing the photos and videos from the device, and it did. It also appeared in Computer under the Portable Devices section. Then, I tried plugging in my iPad and nothing appeared at all...

Sorry but you are not being clear. You say "I have an Apple iPad listed" but then "nothing appeared at all". When you say it's "listed" in DevMgr, is it greyed-out? When you plug it in, does it STAY greyed-out?

Unplug the iPad and in DevMgr find any greyed-out/hidden Apple iPads and right-click then Uninstall. Try plugging the iPad again. It SHOULD, when you plug it in, re-install its driver, then beep twice (Windows "insert" sound). The two beeps are AFAICT "once for the device itself and another because it has PICTURES on it i.e. as a Camera device". Look for it in DevMgr and Explorer Portable Devices.

I don't know what you mean that your iPod "would start syncing the photos and videos" though I suppose you mean AutoPlay--go to Control Panels and look at your AutoPlay settings, do either of the devices appear below under "Devices", "Devices that you connect to your computer will be listed here". Maybe try turning "Use AutoPLay..." off & on again. I don't use it myself, instead I would just plug my iGizmo, open it using Windows Explorer, and find & copy from the DCIM folder "by hand".

I need to ask, since the iPad did not appear in My Computer on your dad's laptop: what model is it, and what revision of the iOS is installed on the iPad?

maxseven said:

Sorry but you are not being clear. You say "I have an Apple iPad listed" but then "nothing appeared at all". When you say it's "listed" in DevMgr, is it greyed-out? When you plug it in, does it STAY greyed-out?

What I meant by "nothing appearing at all" was that Windows didn't start syncing the photos and videos from my iPad to the computer. Nothing is greyed-out in DevMgr, however. Sorry about not being clear enough.

maxseven said:

Unplug the iPad and in DevMgr find any greyed-out/hidden Apple iPads and right-click then Uninstall. Try plugging the iPad again. It SHOULD, when you plug it in, re-install its driver, then beep twice (Windows "insert" sound). The two beeps are AFAICT "once for the device itself and another because it has PICTURES on it i.e. as a Camera device". Look for it in DevMgr and Explorer Portable Devices.

I did exactly what you told me to do, but my iPad doesn't seem to be reinstalling the drivers for itself.
Also, I noticed that my computer only beeped once and I don't see Apple iPad anywhere in DevMgr
and in Explorer Portable Devices.

maxseven said:

I need to ask, since the iPad did not appear in My Computer on your dad's laptop: what model is it, and what revision of the iOS is installed on the iPad?

My iPad's model number is ME277LL/A and I have the latest version of iOS installed, 9.3.1.

Sorry I am running out of ideas. I should have asked up-front but I've assumed: this DID work before with your laptop, but stopped? Normally when something stops working out-of-the-blue I would say "look for a recent action that you took and maybe do a System Restore to before that action" but since it's been 4 or more days now I don't suppose you want to do that?

After uninstalling the driver with DevMgr, does it still appear in iTunes or has that stopped working too?

That you see nothing at all in Dev Mgr called "Portable Devices" troubles me--do you have a USB memory stick you can try?

I have to ask again if you are certain that you were successful adding devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices to Environment Variables and getting Hidden Devices to work--you said "nothing is greyed-out in Device Manager" and if you did everything right you should have found lots of stuff greyed-out in there.

maxseven said:

Sorry I am running out of ideas. I should have asked up-front but I've assumed: this DID work before with your laptop, but stopped? Normally when something stops working out-of-the-blue I would say "look for a recent action that you took and maybe do a System Restore to before that action" but since it's been 4 or more days now I don't suppose you want to do that?

Yes, the iPad was previously working with my laptop, but seemed to have just stopped out-of-the-blue. Also, since it has been a long while since my iPad stopped working properly, I don't think I really want to do a System Restore.

maxseven said:

After uninstalling the driver with DevMgr, does it still appear in iTunes or has that stopped working too?

I just now plugged my iPad into my laptop and iTunes recognized it with no troubles. However, there is still no device called "Apple iPad" under Portable Devices in DevMgr.

maxseven said:

That you see nothing at all in Dev Mgr called "Portable Devices" troubles me--do you have a USB memory stick you can try?

...I do have the Portable Devices section in DevMgr, even with devices listed in that section, like "PMBPORTABLE," which is my old Sony camera, and few USB flash drives named "SANDISK" and "USB STEWIE." I just don't see "Apple iPad" listed anymore.

maxseven said:

I have to ask again if you are certain that you were successful adding devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices to Environment Variables and getting Hidden Devices to work--you said "nothing is greyed-out in Device Manager" and if you did everything right you should have found lots of stuff greyed-out in there.

I checked again, and I saw that the icons of each device listed under Portable Devices is greyed-out. So yeah, I'm certain that I added that string to Environment Variables correctly.

Ok, what I would do next is run Uwe Sieber's DriveCleanup, first with -t (to Test what it will do) and then without and save the session for your record (select all and enter and then paste to a text file). Look about halfway down this page:

Drive Tools for Windows

Make sure you run the x64 version with your 64-bit laptop.

It might fix the problem and I have never had it cause any problems having used it for years. Note it will clear-out the entries for any devices that are not plugged-in at the time, but not to worry as these will be re-installed when the device is plugged-in again.

BTW on his Home page is USB Tree Viewer which will give a nice detailed look at where exactly your USB devices are connected and how i.e. if they are SS or not. Might give you some further clues.

Finally if you are forced to live with this problem you might consider a 3rd-party tool to get your photos/videos. I have iExplorer from Macroplant which is nice but not free, and I think ifunbox is free but I've not used it for years myself.