If the Support tab in the client (which utilizes embedded Internet Explorer browser) does not work in NovaBACKUP clients (19.8 and prior), and you receive a cookie error on screen but there is no CAPTCHA to solve (required for Server OS's and not Workstation OS's), to be able to click on the "I am human" checkbox here, to then solve a CAPTCHA, that is due to the Windows Server OS option "IE Enhanced Security Configuration" being enabled (On). This was not an issue prior to June of 2021, when our hosting provider CloudFlare enabled additional protection against DDoS attacks, and it will affect all client versions that contain a Support tab, if the client is installed on a Server OS. The 'IE Enhanced Security Configuration' option MUST be turned off, at least for Administrators but can be left on for Users (you will have a choice when disabling the option on more modern OS's to leave it enabled for normal Users which should be fine), for the Support tab to be able to load on a Server OS, such as the Windows Server 2019 OS in this example. This is what the error message looks like when loading the Support tab, in any version of NovaBACKUP that contains the Support tab, if the particular embedded IE on Server OS's related issue exists that we are covering here, which mentions "Please stand by, while we are checking your browser..." and "Please enable Cookies and reload the page.", for this Server 2019 OS with the 19.8 client on it:
Primary method of resolution for this issue:
Login as an Administrator user to Windows, on the client machine. Open Windows Server Manager, and then click on "Local Server" on the left, then in the middle of the screen, check the current setting for "IE Enhanced Security Configuration", displayed in the screenshot below, if it is set to On it will state that, and if it is set to On you will need to set it to Off. Click the On button and it will give you the choice to disable the setting for Administrators or Users, and you will need to make a choice there depending on the need, it should be okay to just disable the setting only for Administrators, since the typical user running NovaBACKUP would be in the Administrators group (although not always the case). If any normal user tries to load NovaBACKUP and get to the Support tab they however will still have the issue.
When you go to turn off the option, the "Internet Explorer Enhanced Security Configuration" dialog will display, and if you are the only one using NovaBACKUP client on this machine and you are logged in as an administrator user, then you can just go with disabling it for Administrators. If you or anyone else login to Windows as a normal user, to run NovaBACKUP and access the Support tab, (for a user that is in the Users group but not the Administrators group), then you would have to login as an Administrator user first of all to even be able to configure this setting (which will affect all Administator accounts OR all User accounts), and in the dialog to turn off the option, choose "Users" and save. This is what that dialog will look like on Server 2019 OS (the option settings may differ on older Server OS's):
After you click the checkbox next to "I am human" it will then display a CAPTCHA for you to solve, and if solved correctly it will show the Support tab after that, which will look like this:
If you find that this resolve still does not work for you, first exit the NovaBACKUP client app (NovaBackX.exe), then load 'iexplore.exe' (Internet Explorer) while logged in as the same user that you attempted the above change with (for Server 2022 machines that don't have iexplore.exe anymore due to Internet Explorer Emulation being implemented in Edge browser in that OS), and clear the cache and cookies completely from all time, and at the same time also verify that you do not have the setting in the browser set to clear all cookies / cache each time the browser is closed, as that will remove the stored cookie that we store for the Support tab every time if the browser is closed if so, and you'd then have to solve the CAPCHA every time the Support tab is attempted to load after restarting the client. Afer clearing the cache / cookies completely, then start (or restart) the NovaBACKUP client app (NovaBackX.exe), and attempt to get to the Support tab, wait a few seconds and see if the CAPTCHA checkbox is there for you to click on to solve the CAPTCHA, and when solved make sure the Support tab fully loads the Support Help Center web page, if did then you are done with these instructions and can end here and you do not need to continue with the Secondary method of resolution detailed further. If it still did not work for you, please continue reading to perform the Secondary method of resolution below.
Note: You should only have to solve the CAPTCHA once, and then a cookie will be stored in Internet Explorer (or Edge) browser on that client system; make sure in Internet Explorer and Edge browser that you DO NOT set the browser to clear all cookies/cache each time the browser is closed, as that will remove the stored cookie that we store for the Support tab every time if the browser is closed if so. The Support tab at some point in the future, due to the Cloudflare protection on our web host reaching a time out state, ask you again to solve a CAPTCHA after restarting the client and attempting to get to the Support tab, but it won't be each time the client is loaded and the Support tab is loaded.
Secondary method of resolution for this issue: (only to be taken after the Primary method of resolution did not fix the issue.)
For versions of NovaBACKUP prior to 19.8, since those older versions installed different registry keys as compared to version 19.8+ which affect the browser emulation type utilized by the Support tab in the client, you may need to do one additional item to resolve this, which pertains to a registry key setting that likely already exists on the client system, and if it does exist and is set to an OLD or wrong value then that may be what is overriding the ability for your Support tab to work now if the prior instructions did not fix this issue for you, detailed here:
Login to Windows as an Administrator user on the client machine, and load Registry Editor (regedit.exe) to set two registry settings. The registry setting can be set PER USER, or globally in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, however, in versions of NovaBACKUP prior to 19.8, we did not create a registry key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, so that is important to understand. In version 19.8 and above, the registry key setting is added for you and correctly set at a new value of 10000 (decimal), and in versions older than 19.8 that registry key is set PER USER only, not in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE to affect all users, and was set to the old value of 8000 (decimal). You can change it in the older versions of NovaBACKUP that contain a Support tab, to fix this issue, at least on modern Server OS's such as Server 2016, 2019, and 2022. Keep in mind that this registry setting is a PER USER setting and was only set during the last install of NovaBACKUP client, so if you do not login as that same user then the key will not exist for you. So when you login to Windows you will be editing only the registry setting of your currently logged in user.
If you want to download the .reg file to do this for you, then here is the New 1000 (decimal) registry setting .reg file to download and double-click to import the settings_automatically to your registry to replace or create what is needed in a single command, that you can utilize if you do not want to do this manually; to resolve the issue you would be required to get the NEW setting that utilizes the 10000 (decimal) value. And I have also included the original 8000 (decimal) value registry file to import if you want to revert (only useful for clients OLDER than 19.8):
If you want the NEW 10000 (decimal) value registry setting .reg file, that NovaBACKUP client version 19.8+ will install for you, here is that download:
New 10000 (decimal) registry setting - NBK_FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION_NovaBackX_10000.reg
New 10000 (decimal) registry setting - NBK_FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION_NovaBackX_10000.zip (this is the same .reg file zipped to a .Zip file that you can alternatively download if your browser blocks .reg file downloads)
Alternatively, if you want the OLD 8000 (decimal) registry setting .reg file, that NovaBACKUP versions OLDER than 19.8 will install for you, here is that download:
Old 8000 (decimal) registry setting - NBK_FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION_NovaBackX_8000.reg
Old 8000 (decimal) registry setting - NBK_FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION_NovaBackX_8000.zip (this is the same .reg file zipped to a .Zip file that you can alternatively download if your browser blocks .reg file downloads)
Note: You can utilize the 10000 (value) registry setting on Windows Server OS's up to Windows Server 2012, any Server OS older than that will require the 8000 (value) registry setting most likely to work.
To do this manually without utilizing the .reg file, here are the manual instructions with screenshots of the main steps:
The registry key to edit for your logged in user to allow the Support tab to work, if after following the first part of the instructions in this guide it still does not work for you, then the key to either create (if it does not currently exist for your user, which means your user was not the user that installed NovaBACKUP client last) or change the existing old value (8000 decimal) to the new value (10000 decimal) is here:
In Registry Editor, navigate to this HKEY_CU (Current User) registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION
If you have an existing DWORD entry as 'NovaBackX.exe', and that entry already exists, then you can look at that value and if it shows (8000) at the end, which is the decimal value, then you will change it to 10000. The screenshot below shows that change about to be made, by editing the existing value.
If there is no DWORD entry for 'NovaBackX.exe' that exists, then create a new DWORD (32-bit) entry in this key as so:
Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value with Value name: NovaBackX.exe
Set the value to 10000 (Decimal). As seen here:
Keep in mind if the HKEY_CURRENT_USER registry key for the user that you are logged in as has its own FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION key value set for 'NovaBackX.exe' then the value of that DWORD will override the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE equivalent key and value, as HKEY_CURRENT_USER keys override HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE keys. So creating this key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE only will be overridden if the user has their own HKEY_CURRENT_USER value for the same key in place. It is best to check the setting in both areas to make sure you have it right. Here we will cover creating or editing the same key in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, which is the only area of the Windows Registry that NovaBACKUP version 19.8+ create the registry key in going forward (and the current user key is deleted if it exists, during the installation of 19.8 and newer).
In Registry Editor, navigate to this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\FEATURE_BROWSER_EMULATION
Note: If the above HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry key is NOT existing already, as a named key at that exact registry path, which in some cases will NOT be in place already if it was never needed or no app installed the key, then you will first need to create the key (this key will only affect Internet Explorer or Edge browser - IE is not in place such as for Windows 11 and Server 2022 that would be the case, in that case it will affect Microsoft Edge browser instead of IE, to do that here is that instruction:
In Registry Editor, navigate to this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main\FeatureControl\
Once the key is found or you just created it as new, you can now proceed with the instructions:
Create a new DWORD (32-bit) value with Value name: NovaBackX.exe
Set the value to 10000 (Decimal). As seen here:
Note: NovaBACKUP 19.8 still requires ‘IE Enhanced Security Configuration’ setting to be disabled, at least for the Administrators, for Server OS’s. The new instructions in this KB article cover what to do for customers running clients older than 19.8 who may still run into the issue with the Support tab not working, and the guide shows them how to disable the IE Enhanced Security, and also to instruct them on how to set the registry key to the new 10000 (decimal) value, a .reg file is provided, as well as manual registry edit instructions (if they upgrade to 19.8 it will fix that for them since that verson takes care of the registry key value to set it to 10000, if they stay on 19.7 or older, then they likely will need to follow those instructions to change the registry key value which was 8000 prior).