Following the advice of others, when computer backups routinely failed on my Win 8.1 machine to the server running essentials 2012 (R1), I disconnected the computer from the server, uninstalled the connector software and tried to start again.  I attempted to download the connector software from the server itself htp://servername/connect and was able to download it but when running the Windows server essentials connector configuration wizard, the program continually crashes after entering a user name and password.  The error is "Windows server client deployment Wizard has stopped working"-- A problem caused the program to stop working correctly.  Windows will close the program and notify you if a solution is available- .  

Should I or can i upgrade to R2 (or do I need to buy a different license)? Any suggestions on how to get the computer connected again?

Hi,

Did you have another Windows 8.1 client computer? For a test, please use a new Windows 8.1 client computer, download Connector software, run the connector configuration wizard to connect to Windows Server 2012 Essentials and check if encounter the same issue.

On that problematic Windows 8.1 client computer, please run sfc /scannow command to scan all protected system files, then run Connector configuration wizard again. Any difference? Meanwhile, please follow the path: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows Server\Logs and check ClientDeploy and Computerconnector log files if find more clues.

If any update, please feel free to let me know.

Best regards,

Justin Gu