How do I assign my ipad to a new computer without erasing/reformatting?

Question

Hi guys
I recently had to reformat my computer and luckily I have a 1.5 TB external drive, so it was relatively painless and I didn't lose much. However, now when I plug in my iPad and iPhone, iTunes says that my devices are synced with another computer, and asks me to either erase and sync with this computer, or cancel.
I'm still using the same computer I was always using, but since I reformatted, the iPhone and iPad don't recognize this computer and I would like to know how I reassign these devices to my computer without having to do a erase and sync? I've already transferred all of my purchases on both devices, so everything is backed up. Am I stuck with only the option of erase/sync on both devices? That would suck, I would lose all of my emails and everything else and all of my settings now that both of my devices are tailored to me.
Is there a way to solve this? It kind of seems like they should have an easier way to do this without making it so painful. Hopefully someone understands what I'm asking here and I won't have to erase and sync both of my devices.
Thanks a lot
-Tim

Answer 1

I sort of answered my own question I guess. I'm just posting this to give the information to anyone else who might be having the same problem.
What I did:
Plug your device into your  computer, and with iTunes plugged in right click and click "transfer purchases"
Once that's done, right click and click back up (do this with "backup to my computer" checked under summary and also "backup to iCloud" should also be checked) so you've backed up the device two different times.
So now all of your files and whatnot have all been transferred and backed up to your computer, so no worries about losing anything. Then you sync the device with iTunes and you should be all set. I no longer get any messages saying that my device is synced with another computer.
Hopefully this helps someone who might be having a similar problem.