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Hi guys, tnx for your videos, they helped me with purchase. V. quick question. I got a Qnap TS-453D. A few years back I was mildly affected by the qlocker hack. It took me a while to reorganise all my files. Span.com, who I bought from are no longer in business. I manually got rid of all .7z files. I would like to move again all my healthy files onto NAS. I would like to wipe the NAS just in case there is some undetected malware. Would you advise to restore to factory default or reinitialize? Ideally I would like to keep the same settings and just wipe all the data and then upload my files and folders. I'd really appreciate your quick advice. Keep up the good work! Thanks!
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Thanks for reaching out, and I'm glad our videos helped with your purchase!
Given your previous experience with the Qlocker hack, I would recommend reinitializing the NAS rather than just restoring it to factory defaults. Here's why:
Wiping Data Thoroughly: Reinitializing the NAS ensures that all data is completely wiped, including any potentially lingering files or malware. This process gives you a clean slate, which is the best option after dealing with a malware incident.
Preserving Settings: While restoring to factory defaults will reset the system settings, reinitialization in QNAP’s web interface lets you wipe the data without touching system settings, so you can keep your network settings, user permissions, and other configurations intact.
System Integrity: Reinitializing will also help ensure that no residual, undetected malware is hiding on the system. It's a thorough approach that reduces the risk of any future issues.
Once you reinitialize the NAS, you can safely upload your healthy files and folders back to it.
If you’re unsure, here are the steps for reinitialization:
Log into the QNAP admin interface.
Go to Control Panel > Backup/Restore.
Choose Restore System > Reinitialize.
