How to Create Full/Incremental/Differential Backups in Windows Using Hasleo Backup Suite Free?

Master the concepts of full, incremental, and differential backups and learn how to apply them flexibly. This guide not only introduces Hasleo Backup Suite Free, a powerful and free tool, but also provides step-by-step instructions for creating full/incremental/differential backup tasks.

• Overview of Full Backup
• Overview of Incremental Backup
• Overview of Differential Backup
• How to Create Full/Incremental/Differential Backups in Windows Using Hasleo Backup Suite Free?
• Summary

Overview of Full Backup

Full backup refers to the process of completely copying all the data and files you select at a specific point in time. It is the most basic, simplest, and most important method in a data backup strategy. Each full backup provides an independent recovery point and does not rely on any other backups. Below are the advantages and disadvantages of a full backup:

Advantages:

1. Ensure Data Integrity: Faithfully backs up all data within the selected scope—including the operating system, applications, and settings—without omission.
2. The restoration process is simple: Only one backup version is required to complete the restoration.
3. Easy to manage: No complex dependency chains are required and simple backup version management.

Disadvantages:

1. High storage consumption: Every full backup copies all data, resulting in significant storage costs.
2. Backup time is relatively long: The backup process requires reading and writing all data, which is time-consuming, especially when the amount of data is large.
3. Inconvenient for frequent backups: Performing full backups frequently can place a continuous high load on servers, storage devices, and networks, consuming time and resources.

Overview of Incremental Backup

Incremental Backup is a method that only backs up files and data that have changed or been added since the last backup operation. The previous backup operation can be any type: full backup, incremental backup, or differential backup. Compared to full backup, incremental backup has the following advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

1. Fast backup speed: By only copying data changed since the last backup each time, the process is highly efficient and completes quickly.
2. Save storage space: Reduced backup size directly minimizes required storage capacity.

Disadvantages:

1. The restoration speed is relatively slow and the logic is complex: To restore the system to the latest state, the program needs to extract the required data blocks from the full backup and all incremental backups, so the speed is relatively slow and the logic is complex.
2. Reliance on backup chains: Successful restoration relies on a complete backup chain (a full backup followed by several sequential incremental backups). If any backup version within the chain becomes corrupted, the entire backup chain may fail, resulting in relatively low reliability.

Incremental backups trade a more complex restoration process for highly efficient backup speeds and storage utilization. They are ideal for scenarios requiring frequent backups, large data volumes, and minimal data changes. However, you must ensure the integrity and restorability of the entire backup chain. If you need frequent backups while optimizing storage costs and time, incremental backups are your preferred solution.

Overview of Differential Backup

Differential backup is another method that backs up all data changes since the last full backup. These backups are always based on the most recent full backup. Compared to full and incremental backups, they offer the following advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages:

1. The restoration process is simple and fast: To restore the system to its latest state, the program only needs to extract the required data blocks from the most recent full backup and the latest differential backup, making the restoration relatively quick.
2. More efficient than a full backup: Saves both storage space and backup time.
3. Higher reliability: By relying on just two backup versions (one full backup and one differential backup), the probability of errors during the restoration process is relatively low.

Disadvantages:

1. Differential backup size increases over time: The amount of changed data since the last full backup grows, so the size of differential backups gradually increases.
2. Take up more space than incremental backup: Takes up more space than incremental backup: It will repeatedly back up all data that has changed since the last full backup, even if it was already included in a previous differential backup.

The differential backup achieves a good balance between backup efficiency, storage space, and restoration convenience. It is ideal for situations that require faster backups than full backups but where restoration is less complicated than with incremental backups.

Use the table below to intuitively choose a backup strategy that meets your needs. We often recommend a combined strategy (like Full + Differential or Full + Incremental) to balance benefits and limitations. To ensure that backups can be restored properly, it is essential to regularly check the integrity of the images or perform test restorations.

Full Backup vs. Incremental Backup vs. Differential Backup

	Full Backup	Incremental Backup	Differential Backup
Backup Content	All selected data	Data has changed since the last backup of any type	All data changed since the last full backup
Backup Speed	Slow	Fast	Medium
Restoration Speed	Fast	Slow	Medium
Required storage space	Large	Small	Medium
Complexity	Low	High	Low

 

How to Create Full/Incremental/Differential Backups in Windows Using Hasleo Backup Suite Free?

Hasleo Backup Suite Free is professional, fully-featured Windows backup software that's free. It empowers you to back up, restore disks, partitions, or even your entire system, while also offering advanced features like data compression and encryption. Additionally, Hasleo Backup Suite is compatible with all Windows PCs and servers, natively supporting Windows x86/x64 and ARM64 to ensure optimal efficiency. More importantly, it simplifies the entire backup process while offering a powerful free version, making it your best solution for backing up and restoring.

Hasleo Backup Suite Free allows you to perform both manual and automatic backups. Here is a step-by-step guide to manually perform full/incremental/differential backups in Windows.

Step 1. Download, install and run Hasleo Backup Suite Free. Navigate to the "Home" screen. In the action area, click "New Backup" to create your backup tasks.

Step 2. Hasleo Backup Suite Free will automatically open the backup screen. Click the "System Backup" button.

Step 3. Hasleo Backup Suite Free will automatically select all partitions required for Windows system backup. Customize the task name, description, destination, and backup options according to your needs. Select the "Back up later" option and click "Save" to save the backup task.

* Tips:

1. Task name: Specify a task name so that you can quickly find and manage your backup task later.
2. Description: Briefly describe the purpose of the task and any other relevant information.
3. Destination: Modify the destination path where the backup image files will be stored by clicking the folder icon.
4. Backup options: Advanced backup settings. For more details, please refer to Backup options.
5. Backup schedule: Set up backup schedules to automatically perform your backup tasks on a regular basis. For more details, please refer to Backup schedule.

Step 4. After creating the task, click "Actions", then click "Backup" in the dropdown menu. Select the backup mode you need: Full, Incremental, or Differential.

* Tips: If there is no full backup image, incremental/differential operations cannot be used. Please perform a full backup first.

Step 5. Hasleo Backup Suite Free is now performing an full/incremental/differential backup. This process may take some time. Please be patient.

* Tips:

1. Priority: Specify a priority for the backup process. A higher priority allocates more CPU time to the backup, which may cause other programs to run slower.
2. Check image: Verify the integrity of the backup image files upon completion of the backup process.
3. Power plan: Perform the power management action after the backup is complete.

 

Below is a step-by-step guide to automatically creating full/incremental/differential backups in Windows.

Step 1. Click the "Backup" button in the navigation bar, then select "System Backup" from the action area.

Step 2. Hasleo Backup Suite Free will automatically select all partitions required for Windows system backup. Customize the task name, description, destination, and backup options according to your needs.

 

Step 3. Click "Backup schedule" to open the backup schedule configuration window.

Step 4. Click "Add backup schedule", then select the schedule type in the left navigation bar. Find "Backup mode", choose the "Full/Incremental/Differential" backup mode, and then click "OK" to save the settings. You can also repeat this step as needed to add multiple backup schedules for this backup task.

Step 5. Click "OK" to save the backup schedule.

Step 6. Click "Save" to create the backup task. Hasleo Backup Suite Free will perform full/incremental/differential backups at your specified time.

* Tips: To restore from a backup task, please refer to: How to Restore Your System from Full/Incremental/Differential Backups.

Summary

Hasleo Backup Suite Free ensures data security by supporting full, incremental, and differential backups at no cost. You can also choose a suitable combination backup strategy according to your needs to improve performance and save storage space. For optimal results, we recommend regularly reviewing and adjusting the backup configuration to ensure their reliability and effectiveness.

As a professional backup tool, Hasleo Backup Suite Free allows you to create a bootable WinPE emergency disk, enabling quick system restoration after a crash. Experience the power of this comprehensive software for yourself — download it now!