can any one help me, i've an i pad 2 which as per instructions when i got it, plugged it into my lap top to sync with i tunes etc, however it never synced (ie none of my music etc transferred across)

however, as dont intend to use it as a music player i wasnt to bothered about that, but there been an update with the os soft ware which apparently need to update via itunes, but this time when i did it, itunes on my laptop seems to only give the the options of re-storing ipad to a previous date or register as a new ipad? any one know whats wrong or what i need to do to sort it out.

I had exactly the same issue and fixed it now.

iTunes, at times would have issues like simply because the software would have been corrupted or it might not detect the USB ports. The best option to clear out the issue is to re-install iTunes.

First check if your USB ports are working fine to ensure that it's not a driver issue. You can do that by connecting other USB devices like a mobile phone, Smartphone, etc. If you are sure it's working, go-ahead and uninstall iTunes. Else re-install the drivers of the motherboard.

To re-install iTunes, you may have to go to the control panel>> add or remove programs and remove all the Apple and iTunes programs. Please check this support article to completely uninstall iTunes from your system- http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1925

After iTunes is completely removed, re-install the latest version 10.5 of iTunes and connect your iPad, it would be detected and ready for getting updated to iOS 5. All the Best!