I have several HP Mini PCs running Windows 10 Pro at remote locations without monitors or keyboards. They're difficult to access physically, so I added smart plugs to remotely power-cycle them. The problem is that after some outages or reboots, they stop being reachable through TeamViewer or Tailscale. When I visit the site, the machines are often sitting at a pre-login screen prompting me to enable Windows Backup or complete some other setup step. I'm considering installing Proxmox and running Tailscale on the host so I can always reach the system after a reboot. Would that reliably start unattended, or is there a better out-of-band management solution?
3 Answers
Proxmox could make the host easier to reach after a reboot, but it doesn’t solve the underlying Windows management problem if you still need that Windows installation directly. A bare-metal hypervisor also adds complexity and may not help if the hardware or power state has issues. I’d investigate why Windows is showing the backup prompt and configure the machine for unattended startup first.
First check whether the HP Minis support Intel vPro/AMT. AMT provides out-of-band management, so you can power-cycle the machine and access its console even when Windows is stuck at a login or setup screen. It’s much more appropriate than repeatedly cutting power with a smart plug, although the specific model and configuration need to support it.
Those backup prompts are commonly associated with consumer-style Windows setup or recovery experiences. Check whether the PCs are properly joined to your domain or Entra environment and review policies that control backup and first-run prompts. Also make sure automatic sign-in or a service-based remote access agent is configured if that fits your security requirements; relying on TeamViewer or Tailscale alone won’t help if Windows is waiting at an interactive screen.
This only works if the systems actually include the vPro/AMT hardware and it has been enabled and configured, so verify the exact Mini models before relying on it.