2 Issues - iPad flickering on/off for charging, and not transferring apps to computer

So, as I said, there are two issues here, between my wife's iPad Air and her Windows 10 machine.

1. The iPad flickers on and off when connected to the computer now. So, it'll slip in and out of being connected.

2. This is the bigger issue, though it may connect to the first. The apps in the iTunes library on my wife's computer haven't updated since December 2016. She obviously connected her iPad to the computer since then, but the library only has maybe 7 apps there. When connected, the app screen for the iPad in iTunes shows her four "desktops", and there's a not above this screen that shows 29 apps. However, as I said, there aren't 29 apps displayed in the App Library.

I tried using the file menu to tell the iPad to transfer purchases to the computer. It starts to sync, and in the little display bar, when it says "Transferring Purchases" it stays there for a few seconds, we see a tiny bit of progress on the progress bar, and then it suddenly ends. Obviously, nothing is transferred.

So, how to fix these? Especially #2?

#1 might be affecting #2. If the iPad doesn't stay consistently connected and charging then it won't reliably transfer data. If you've tried multiple cables and the problem persists, the connector on the iPad might be lose or failing..

Don't know if this will help or not but I have found iPads in general to be very fickle about charging from either a Mac or PC. The problem is that the older the iPad gets the more current it tends to draw from the USB port. My former iPad 3 could not be charged from my iMac and even my new one (10.5" iPad Pro) will only charge up to around 97% before it stops charging. However, when I attach it to its "brick" it charges fully.

What I'm getting at is it might be a matter of not enough charging current is getting to the Air and it's disconnecting/connecting. (Flickering) Make sure her iPad is fully charged before attaching to the PC to see if that helps. If it doesn't, then there's another problem - perhaps with the USB ports on the PC.