If you are one of those iPad users who don’t like to depend on others when it comes down to fixing your precious gadget, and if you want to learn how to fix your iPad yourself, this guide is for you. We will show you how to perform basic repair services on your iPad, fixing problems ranging from a flat battery, to fixing an iPad that won’t reboot.

Please note that some options, which require opening up your iPad to replace the battery, may void your warranty. If your warranty hasn’t expired yet, you might consider returning your iPad to the store to have it fixed for free.

Before taking too drastic measures, your first attempt should be to reset your ipad. This might be an easy solution to your problems, before having to get physical with your iPad. Resetting an iPad, or Apple products in general is quite easy. Just follow these easy steps. If one step doesn't appear to solve your problem, move on to the next one.

1. If your iPad still shows text onscreen, press and hold down the Sleep/Power button for at least three seconds. The Sleep/Wake button is located at the top of the device. This should dim the screen of your iPad, showing a red button, which can be dragged right.
2. Slide the red button from left to right. This will switch off your iPad.
3. After waiting about ten seconds, slide the Sleep/Wake button again, and hold it for about three seconds. This will reset the iPad, and hopefully fix your problem.
4. If you don’t have any display, or if the ‘soft’ reset didn’t fix the problem, a hard reset may help. For this, press and hold both the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button for at least ten seconds. After the ten seconds, the Apple logo appears, and your iPad will perform a hard reset.

1. First, connect your iPad to your computer, using the USB cord provided with the iPad. You should be familiar with this step, as you would do the same when you want to synchronize your iPad with iTunes.
2. Once connected, your iPad should show up in the left-hand pane of iTunes. If not , try switching on your iPad. When the iPad is visible in the iTunes pane, you should see a button stating ‘’ restore’’.
3. Click the ‘’Restore’’ button. This will start the Restore process.
4. First, you will be warned all information will be erased. We are aware of that, so press on, and click ‘Restore and Update’. This may take a while, but when finished, your iPad should be loaded with the latest factory settings, and be ready for use again.
5. You can now synchronize your iPad with iTunes again, hopefully loading most, if not all your latest settings, music and videos.

If your iPad doesn’t react at all when switching on, even after considerable time charging, you may need to replace the battery. Replacing the battery of an iPad is similar to replacing the battery of an iPod, as most Apple products are built similarly.

1. Buy the right iPad battery: As Apple uses one type of battery per product/version, you can simply shop around to get the cheapest iPad battery available. There may occur batteries with higher ampere values, which may be the better choice when available. This will make your iPad last longer when in use.
2. Open your iPad: Use a plastic screwdriver or wedge to wriggle between the front and back plate of the iPad. These plates are held together by a series of clamps, which you need to free up. Don’t put too much pressure on the clips, as you might damage the clips, or scratch the plates.
3. Once opened up, remove the old battery, trying to keep the ‘sticky goo’ on the iPad. This will make re-inserting the new battery much easier.
4. Place the new battery: This should be fairly simple. The battery only fits in one way. Make sure the wires are connected to the iPad, before inserting the battery.
5. Close up your ipad.

You have now completed the job of replacing the battery of your iPad. Charge it, and switch it on. If nothing else was broken, your iPad should now light up again.

If all else fails, and you suspect the harddisk to be faulty, you may use similar steps ad in Option 3, to replace the harddisk in your iPad. Main difference is the harddisk may be covered by foam, or other shock absorbing material. You should remove that material from the old hard-disk, and glue it to your new disk, to make sure your iPad remains shock absorbent to some level.

1. Buy a harddisk suitable for your iPad. At the time of writing (February 2010), no replacement harddisks were available, but after launch of the iPad In April 2010 they are sure to emerge quickly. Of always, the bigger the storage of the harddisk, the better.
2. Open up your iPad using the steps described in Option 3.
3. Locate the harddisk in your iPad, examine the connections of the harddisk to your device.
4. Unplug the old harddisk, and insert the new disk, keeping in mind to replace any foam or other shock-absorbing materials.
5. Close the iPad again, and either connect it to iTunes to ‘Restore’ (See option 2), or download the iPad updater from apple.com.

This may take a while, but once finished, your iPad should be ready for usage again.