I was using a Windows 7 box with the latest version of iTunes and I kept getting this error message when I tried to do a restore (from one iPad Mini to another iPad Mini):
iTunes could not restore the iPad because the backup was corrupt or not compatible
How did I fix the issue? I switched to my iMac and the backup and restore went without a hitch.
Moral of the story: use your Apple device to do backups and restore.
iTunes for OS X > iTunes for Windows