- Reinstall iTunes
- Get a new USB cable
- Turn the phone on and off whilst plugged in
- Enable administrator mode for some apple-related process (I'm not a Windows user)
He's tried reinstalling iTunes, could try a new cable but not sure that will work, his iPhone also isn't working with it so it wont be that, and I guess he could try admin mode.
Well my friend had a Dell i7 laptop and apparently the chipset doesn't support syncing with the iPhone / iPad. I'm not sure if he ever got it resolved. If he did, it would be by installing a new Bios from Dell. I would give that a shot.