An image of an iPad. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So you got a shiny new iPad, to replace your aging old iPad.  Whats that?  You spent a lot of hours playing games and don’t want to lose your progress?  You have a lot of Apps on it that you don’t want to have to re-download?  You have photos and other data on it that you don’t want to lose?

Don’t fear, this guide is for you.  I’ll show you how easy it is to move from an old iPad to a new iPad.  It works even when going from an iPad 1 to an iPad 4.  You’ll need to use iTunes to do this.

First things first.  Before you even turn on the new iPad, as tempting as it may be, let’s make sure we can get the data from the old one.

• Start iTunes.
• Plug in the old iPad and do a sync, or a backup.
• Eject the old iPad from iTunes and disconnect it from the computer.

Now the moment you’ve been waiting for.  Turn on that shiny new iPad!  Then do the following:

• Press Home button.
• Slide the arrow to get started.
• Choose your language, then tap Next (arrow in upper right corner).
• Choose your geographic location, then tap Next.
• Choose to enable or disable location services, then tap Next.  This is entirely up to you and can be toggled later should you change your mind.
• If you disabled location services, tap OK to acknowledge.
• Choose your network, enter the network password, then tap Next.
• When you’re asked if you want to set up as new iPad or restore from backup, choose Restore.  Tap Next.
• You will be prompted to plug the new iPad into the computer, do so (iTunes should already be running).
• iTunes will see the new iPad and ask which device you want to restore from.  Choose the one you backed up from (if more than one).
• Let iTunes do its thing.  It will restore the iPad, reboot it, then synchronize it.  The sync could take a while depending on what you had installed (how many books, how much music or movies, and how many apps).
• Once the sync completes, go through iTunes settings for the new iPad and make sure the synchronization settings are still how you want them.  Make adjustments where needed, then re-sync.  You may want to change the name while you’re in iTunes, otherwise you can change it on the iPad itself later if you so desire.
• When all done in iTunes, eject the new iPad and disconnect it from the computer.
• When the new iPad has completed the iTunes initiated reboot, it will ask you to tap Continue.  Just leave it until you are completely done in iTunes (as described in previous step).
• Select your network, re-enter the network password if needed, then tap Next.
• Enter your Apple ID password, then tap Next.
• Chose whether to use Siri or not, then tap Next.
• Tap ‘Start Using iPad’.

That’s it!  Everything should now be restored and fully functional on your new iPad, exactly how you had it on your old iPad.