Ongoing issues in HDP PC Agent 1.3.1

English Backup and data protection
1

I am using HDP PC Agent 1.3.1 to do simple backups only on a TS-451+ NAS system for nine PCs running Win 11 Pro. This app does create backups in the repositories as expected as far as I can tell. Where I am experiencing difficulties is in recovering from a backup using HDP PC Agent Recovery Media Creator and HDP PC Agent Recovery Wizard as follows:

- Recovery Media Creator seems to fail to include drivers for WiFi on the USB Boot Drive it creates.

- As a result, computers connecting to the server via WiFi are unable to connect, preventing a recovery operation.

- In most cases, computers connecting to the server via Ethernet are able to connect and perform a recovery operation. I can see in the list of software included in the USB Boot Drive that a driver for Ethernet is included in most but not every case. In the cases where no Ethernet driver is included, it is possible to manually load a driver via provisions in the Recovery Wizard, but this is not a model of convenience. It is not clear why Recovery Media Creator fails to load some Ethernet drivers but not others. These drivers are up to date and working as they should otherwise.

- What is not clear is whether QNAP intends for Recovery Media Creator/Recovery Wizard to support recovery via WiFi. If so, Recovery Media Creator/Recovery Wizard is not working as it should. If not, this would seem to create considerable inconvenience for computers not situated to allow an easy access to an Ethernet connection.

In other matters, HDP PC Agent 1.3.1 provides some user choices which were not available in 1.2.x versions, including:

- A check box labeled “Full Backup.” While one can guess what this means, it would be helpful to have a detailed technical explanation and guidance as to why one might check this option or not.

- In the “Rules” section of the “Edit Backup Job” screens, there is a checkbox labeled “Encryption” showing a check mark against a blue background, but grayed out and not changeable. What does this mean? Are all backups now encrypted or some other explanation?

HDP PC Agent is a critically important piece of software for those using QNAP for backup and recovery. It will be more than helpful to get this right and to explain in detail the known capabilities, limitations and bugs. If such information is available online and I have missed it, links would be appreciated.

2

Greetings,

The boot media does include an option to add drivers for peripherals or hardware specific to your environment. Another option. Its better to use a wired connection for larger file or folder level recovery. This would also apply to partition or bare metal restore. I also use a USB A or USB-C to ethernet adapters for just such an emergency :wink:. Works like a charm without drivers too.

One example. They are available from multiple brands. Just get a good one that supports gigabit ethernet.

capture_temp
capture_temp883×906 80.9 KB

3

Yes, Recovery Wizard has a provision to add drivers, and I have found this necessary for some of my Ethernet connected computers; in some computers RW adds the drivers without manual intervention, and on others it is necessary to add the drivers manually. Not clear why RW doesn’t add these Ethernet drivers automatically on a consistent basis. It may also be possible to add the drivers manually for WiFi but so far, I have been unable to make this work; identifying the proper drivers has been a challenge.

I think we have a failure to communicate re using a wired connection vs wireless. Agreed that wired probably the best bet but then it is necessary to get the computer physically close enough to an Ethernet connection point to make this work, easy enough for laptops, but not so easy for tower configurations. Fortunately, the need to recover is rare here. Not sure what your point is re the RJ45 to USB adapter; I have several of these and use them with laptops which have no RJ45 connection.

4

Hello everyone, I have the following problem. NAS: TS-251+, QTS 5.2.8.3359. I recently performed a full backup of a Windows PC using the latest version of HDP PC/VM. The backup was successful. Now the backed-up PC won’t boot, and I have to create a USB recovery drive to restore the backup. From a working PC, I can log into the NAS and see the backup. When I try to access the NAS with HDP PC agent 1.3.1, I get the error message “Invalid SSL certificate.” If I ignore this, HDP PC agent tries to start but aborts with an unknown error (-1). What can I do?

5

Thank you very much for your feedback! Regarding the UI issues you mentioned, our internal team will evaluate them for future improvements.

Additionally, regarding the restoration process, please note that WinPE itself does not support WiFi.

Therefore, you will still need to use an Ethernet connection to perform the restoration. We appreciate your understanding and your valuable suggestions!