Imaging Performance Testing: MR8, ETBH, HBSP

[n8chavez]

I do agree with "compression level", no questions here. But especially with technical products and UIs in general - isn't it rather common to leave out articles like "the" in captions? I'm not talking about full sentences here, but captions in UI elements where it's rather common to have texts as compact as possible.

English is not my native language though, so take this with a grain of salt. But it feels odd to me to  write "the" in texts like "Checking file system" or "Size of newly created image file" because those texts read like a check list to me.

Just my 2 cents 

Technically, yes.  Without a word like "Now", or "I'm" the word "the" is a little odd.  So, for example, "Now Checking the File System", or "I'm Checking the File System" would be correct.  I think they want to try and be as correct as possible to combat the negative stereotypes of Chinese software.

[Epictetus]

I do agree with "compression level", no questions here. But especially with technical products and UIs in general - isn't it rather common to leave out articles like "the" in captions? I'm not talking about full sentences here, but captions in UI elements where it's rather common to have texts as compact as possible.

English is not my native language though, so take this with a grain of salt. But it feels odd to me to  write "the" in texts like "Checking file system" or "Size of newly created image file" because those texts read like a check list to me.

Just my 2 cents 

Technically, yes.  Without a word like "Now", or "I'm" the word "the" is a little odd.  So, for example, "Now Checking the File System", or "I'm Checking the File System" would be correct.  I think they want to try and be as correct as possible to combat the negative stereotypes of Chinese software.

Well I am a native speaker and I think putting the definite article 'the' in those places makes the English better, and more importantly in some instances, much clearer.

[admin]

Thank you all for your enthusiastic discussion and valuable suggestions!

Special thanks to garioch7 for once again providing detailed test comparison results and offering suggestions for improving the English interface phrasing.

Also thanks to n8chavez, al3x, and Epictetus for the active discussion. You're right, in the UI, we sometimes keep the phrasing as short as possible, given the limited space. We will continue to improve the grammar and readability of the English interface in future versions to make the information clearer and more natural. To be honest, this is somewhat challenging for non-native English speakers.

Your feedback and testing are what drive us to improve. Have a great weekend!

[CDC9762]

I think the "the" is not required in obvious things like "checking file system", it adds nothing to the clarity and just takes up space.
As I was told in a technical writing course, "Write to inform, not to impress!".

[garioch7]

Thank you to everyone who replied to my last post.  I confess I did not expect it to generate as much interest as it did.

On the subject of my testing being repetitive, if I have used the same version of all three imaging programs, that observation does have merit.  My reasons for continuing to post every three weeks is to have current test results available to new and prospective users/customers.  As for me, I post in the other Forums I frequent about how well HBS is performing, and link those posts to my most current test results here.  Anyone who follows the links can see up-to-date comparisons.

Moreover, subsequent testing with the same versions confirms previous testing results, which allows for changes in the size of my C: partition.  We also never know when Windows might introduce an update that would impact the way in which HBS or the other two programs handle their imaging and impact their performance.

On the subject of my suggested wording changes, I already openly confessed to being pedantic.  They were intended as a suggestion only, to be approved, modified, or ignored by the Hasleo Team.  I think better English would make HBS look more polished for its English users/customers.  I would certainly encourage others to submit their suggested wordings.  I don't pretend to be a technical writer, and I am not trying to impress anybody but HBS users and customers.  In my opinion, there is no need for the current messages to be so terse and compact, when there is lots of room on the imaging progress screen.

I am not an HBS programmer, or indeed a very accomplished programmer at all.  My proposed changes would only lengthen the progress messages, which could be easily accomplished by just adding the words to the message to be "ECHO'd", using old DOS batch file parlance (I started with DOS 3.1.)  HBS has the entire screen to accommodate the progress messages.  It means no GUI changes whatsoever.

Finally, I have not been opening new topics.  I confine my testing results to my original topic, so Forum members are welcome to ignore my updates every three weeks by simply ignoring my comparison topic.

With that said, I will make no further comment on my suggested wording changes or my plan to continue my testing every three weeks, unless so directed by the Forum Administrator.  My only motive is to help, as I can, to improve Hasleo.  I am certainly no imaging specialist: I readily concede that, so I contribute according to the skills I have that might be of benefit to the Hasleo Team.

Thank you all again for your comments.  I think it is helpful for the Hasleo Team to hear from a spectrum of their user/customer base to best chart future product improvements.  One of the prime purposes of this Forum is to have discussions about how HBS performs, and make suggestions to improve it.

Have a great day.

Regards,
Phil

[CDC9762]

I didn't think your intent was to impress but the comment was to demonstrate that the inform(ation) was there and "the" didn't contribute anything in that regard.
I just went through a Macrium V8 log and it is totally devoid of "the" when listing steps and this is from a Brit company .

Part of the issue might be that I've been reading computer stuff for a long-time and am quite used to a more concise style.

[admin]

Thank you to @CDC9762 and @garioch7 for your candid discussion. Your feedback from the perspectives of "conciseness and efficiency" and "clarity and correctness" is very valuable to us.

As the development team, we will take a balanced approach:
For UI labels and compact areas: we will keep them concise and not enforce the use of "the".
For progress messages, logs, and dialogs: we will appropriately polish the grammar to make them sound more natural and professional to native English speakers.

Everyone is welcome to continue sharing their thoughts freely, diverse voices are what make HBS better and better.

Best regards,

[garioch7]

Another three weeks have passed, and I had the opportunity to test the latest beta version of HBSP.  Here are my results.

Imaging/Check Image Times

Computer:

2019 Dell XPS 8930 SE Desktop Computer
i7 CPU, 32 GB RAM
DELL GeForce RTX 2060 GPU (6 GB Memory)
Three Internal Drives:
Drive 0 [HDD]: ST2000DM008-2FR102 (ZFL0WX49) [1863 GB] D:
Drive 1 [HDD]: WDC WD4005FZBX-00K5WB0 (V30884SF) [3726 GB] G: (Target Image Drive)
Drive 2 [SSD]: SSDPEMKF010T8 NVMe INTEL 1024GB (5CD2_E428_9150_7048.) [953 GB] C: (Source Image Drive)
No BitLocker Encryption on any Drives



Common Defaults to all three programs:

High Priority
Full Disk/Partition Images (all partitions)
Source Drive: Internal Intel 1 TB SSD (Disk 2)
Target Drive: Internal WD Black 4 TB HDD (Disk 1)
Default Compression (Recommended)
OS: Windows 11 Pro 25H2 (26200.8246)
Recommended Program Defaults, unless otherwise noted.


Listed in chronological order of testing (earliest date to the latest date).


2026-04-10 (Times rounded off to the nearest minute)
Macrium Reflect 8 [MR8] (8.1.8631)
Default Filters

Disk 2 (6 partitions) Size: 251.7 GB
MR8 Image Size: 173.3 GB

Image Backup - Disk 2: 14:10 - 14:24 (14 minutes)
Image Verify - Disk 2: 14:24 - 14:37 (13 minutes)
Total Imaging Time: 27 minutes



2026-04-17 (Times rounded off to the nearest minute)
2026 Easeus Todo Backup Home [ETBH] (18.0.0 [Build 2025-12-03])
Default Filters

Disk 2 (6 partitions) Size: 252.6 GB
ETBH Image Size: 193.3 GB

Image Backup - Disk 2: 14:06 - 14:22 (16 minutes)
Check Image - Disk 2: 14:23 - 14:46 (23 minutes)
Total Imaging Time: 39 minutes



2026-04-03 (Times rounded off to the nearest minute)
Hasleo Backup Suite Professional [HBSP] 5.8.1.1 Beta
Two Filters disabled (Page/Hibernation/Swap Files, VSS Snapshot Files), Smart Backup enabled, Highest Priority.

Disk 2 (6 partitions) Size: 253.2 GB
HBSP Image Size: 167.7 GB GB

Image Backup - Disk 2: 14:28 - 14:41 (13 minutes)
Check Complete Image - Disk 2: 14:55 - 15:07 (12 minutes)
Total Imaging Time: 25 minutes

Have a great day.

Regards,
Phil

[admin]

Dear @garioch7,

Thank you for your detailed testing and feedback.

Based on your results, HBSP 5.8.1.1 Beta appears stable, and no performance regression has been observed.

We plan to release the final version as soon as possible.

Best regards,

[garioch7]

@admin,

I would agree with you: the latest Beta version is stable.  I used it on both of my computers yesterday to do full Disk/Partition images.

My laptop was very slow to create anew HBS Emergency Disk when writing out to the USB flash drive, an older 16 GB Kingston Data Traveler.  I suspect the USB is failing, not HBS.  In time, I will test and replace that USB, if it is failing.  Gibson Research has a great free program called ValiDrive.  It is excellent.  I have used it since it was released a few years ago.

GRC | ValiDrive  
ValiDrive, Fraudulent and Fake Drive Detection

That will be my first test when I get the time to check out that old 4 GB USB drive.  Old USB drives are prone to failing.  They are not a viable long-term storage medium.

Have a great day.

Regards,
Phil

ADDENDUM - NEW INFO: I decided to test the USB Drive against a known good USB drive later today after posting earlier.  The read/write speeds on the USB drive I used yesterday were far below where they should be, as reported by ValiDrive, and as I experienced when using the USB drive.  Even ESET was taking forever to scan it.  That USB drive is nearing its demise.

The fault was the USB drive.  I will discard the old USB drive, and you can disregard any suggestion that HBS might be at fault.