04-28-2026, 06:40 AM (This post was last modified: Today, 07:33 AM by garioch7.
Edit Reason: Post Updated With New/Revised Information
)
Hasleo Backup Suite Index of FAQs - Introduction
The FAQ posts listed in the Hasleo Backup Suite (HBS) FAQs Topic are not a replacement for the Hasleo Online Help File, which should always be consulted first. The HBS Help File provides the basic information about navigating the various functions and options of the program. The posts in the HBS FAQs Topic assume that the user has already read and understood the basic information provided by the HBS Online Help File.
The purpose of the HBS FAQs Topic is to cull past Topics in the HBS Forum to provide more in-depth information about the various features and functions than is currently available in the Help file and respond to common questions that have arisen there. Over time, some of the information in the HBS FAQs Topic will be added to the HBS Online Help File.
Another tremendous resource for our Forum members is the Hasleo Backup Suite Articles and Tutorials. 🔗 If you find that a major subject is not covered by them, you can post in the Hasleo Backup Forum to request that a User Guide be created. As it is, they are very comprehensive and professional. They are maintained by the Hasleo Team Development Team, independently of the HBS FAQs Topic posts that are an initiative of the Hasleo Forum Team. The HBS FAQs Topic posts can respond more quickly to document the ongoing enhancements to the Hasleo Backup Suite.
This HBS FAQs Topic is a proactive measure by the Hasleo Forum Team to share information with HBS users and customers, primarily based on past Hasleo Backup Forum posts. This is an ongoing project. Each month, it is hoped to add one or more FAQs to the Topic to further assist users to better understand the capabilities of the HBS product.
If there is a past topic or an issue that you think should be added to the HBS FAQs Topic, you are invited to send a Private Message (PM) to @garioch7. 🔗 You can do that by opening your Messages and selecting his name as the recipient; or, by clicking on his name in any post, or here, and selecting to send him a PM.
Both this Topic and HBS FAQs Topic are locked to keep them concise, without extraneous posts. If Forum members want to respond to an HBS FAQs Topic post with questions or comments, they should open a topic in the Hasleo Backup Forum.
More future posts are being considered as well, based on a comprehensive review of Forum posts dating back to when the HBS product was first released in May 2021 that identified common questions.
We hope these FAQs will assist our users and customers. Thank you for selecting the Hasleo Backup Suite as your imaging solution.
This FAQ Post discusses creating Hasleo Backup Suite Emergency Disks, which can be created on a DVD or a USB flash drive (the latter is recommended).
(This FAQ Post is a consolidation of information from one or more posts, and has been edited to be current.)
A Hasleo Backup Suite Emergency Disk (HBS-ED) should always be created, and be kept current, as advised by the Release Notes for each new version. Users are strongly advised to create an HBS-ED after installing HBS for the first time to ensure that, in the event of an SSD or HDD failure of their Operating System Disk C:, they can boot their computer from the HBS-ED to restore their OS, programs, and data from their most recent HBS system image.
Once the HBS-ED boot disk is created, the user should test it to ensure that it can boot their computer successfully.
(04-22-2026, 09:14 AM)Froggie Wrote: There are (3) Recovery/BOOT menu options available from HBS:
1. By not selecting the Download WinPE components option, HBS will use a file on your System called WinRE.wim to build your Emergency Media/BOOT Menu. This is a file, built by Windows (and usually located in your Windows Recovery partition) that offers Windows the ability to BOOT your System into a Recovery mode, if necessary, during various problem scenarios. It contains a full WinPE configuration as well as a bit of extra stuff, including wireless drivers which are not contained in a base WinPE. Windows recreates the WinRE configuration during certain updates/upgrades when it feels necessary. Some users are afraid of this as Windows, in the past, has messed up the WinRE configuration causing many issues with the LIVE Windows System.
2. By selecting the Download WinPE components option, you will receive the basic WinPE configuration via download from Microsoft and it will be used for the Emergency Media/BOOT Menu building process. The result, using the WinPE base configuration, is smaller than the WinRE configuration. During the building process, if adding existing drivers is used, I believe HBS tries to add whatever unique drivers exist on your System to that build (they will need to respond if this is not the case). Result, the Recovery Media should be fully functional for the System it was built on.
3. A third option exists that I have mentioned in previous posts. By selecting Download WinPE components (and Automatic driver injection <set as DEFAULT>), the next screen offers either Microsoft.com or Offline WinPE Package. If you select Offline WinPE Package, no Microsoft download will occur, and the HBS Emergency Media build will begin using a local OPE (Offline PE) file, previously downloaded from Hasleo.
This is the method I have always used when creating Recovery Media. Once the OPE file has been downloaded from Hasleo (contains the latest stable build of WinPE from Microsoft and the user must do this), this option may be used for all recovery media creation. Hasleo offers the latest stable WinPE build based on Windows 11.
This build is the most driver rich version available from Microsoft (I mention "stable" due to the fact that it most likely won't be the latest issue from Microsoft... many of their issues are bug bitten at the time of issue). When using this method, no download is required (except the initial OPE download from Hasleo) prior to the building of the recovery media and the building process is much faster due to the lack of a download. This provides a stable WinPE baseline for all Recovery Media produced from this moment forward.”
(04-24-2026, 03:10 AM)Froggie Wrote: If you only checked download from Microsoft.com and not the use the off-line WinPE option, the resultant winpe.iso (located in Hasleo's "bin" folder)will be built from Microsoft's downloaded WinPE offering (after the download) not the offline WinPE option.
To use the offline WinPE option you must have the previously mentioned OPE file resident (somewhere on your System) before you do the build. This may be done by using Hasleo's offline WinPE download page HERE. Once you have it present, then you can build the offline version of the recovery media.
The WinPE offline file (.OPE) is used during the build (just like it would use the downloaded Microsoft option or the WinRE option) and stored where Hasleo stores all the rest of its build results. Since newly installed versions remove the legacy stored stuff, all new versions will require a build using that OPE file once again. If you're producing new recovery media without changing the HBS installed media, then any new recovery media will be the same as the one 1st created after a new install.
One of the main reasons I use the OPE installation is because only one download is required and the result is stored on your System for Hasleo to use when building a fresh recovery media (using the offline option). Currently Hasleo forces users to re-ADD their BOOT media when installing new versions. If doing so, that process will build a new reference "winpe.iso" for the Hasleo "bin" folder. That file will be the result of how you do the build... WinRE, downloaded WinPE or use offline WinPE.”
If a user has already created an HBS Emergency Disk using a Microsoft download or, if that was not checked, from the local Windows Recovery files on the computer, the option to select to use the .OPE file, as described by @Froggie, will no longer appear.
The "Re-create WinPE image ISO" feature introduced in V5.8 automatically deletes the old winpe.iso. However, please note that this feature does not delete the winpe.wim file, so to again get the option to select the .OPE file reappear, you must manually delete the winpe.wim file. This file can be found in the following folder: C:\Program Files\Hasleo\Hasleo Backup Suite\bin\WADK\Windows Preinstallation Environment\amd64\winpe.wim.
To run WinPEDownloader.exe, double-click the file, and ignore all warnings. The resulting Hasleo Offline WinPE.OPE file will be found in the folder where the original WinPEDownloader.zip file is located, and can be used for future creation of new Hasleo Emergency Disks, when recommended by HBS in the Release Notes for new versions. It will be much faster because no downloads are involved. It is recommended to keep the .OPE file in a folder, separate from the Hasleo folders, so that a new HBS version does not delete possibly it; and it is not deleted because the user completely uninstalled and reinstalled HBS to troubleshoot an issue.
Some users with high-resolution displays may see that the HBS-ED GUI box is very small. To correct that issue, delete the qt.conf file in the following folder within your Hasleo Backup Suite installation folder: C:\Program Files\Hasleo\Hasleo Backup Suite\bin\WINPE\Program Files\Hasleo Backup Suite\bin\qt.conf. Then, recreate your HBS-ED.
The maximum boot partition size of an HBS ED is 32 GB, and it must be formatted as a FAT32 partition/drive to make it compatible with Legacy computers, and possibly some modern UEFI computers.
(05-27-2026, 04:37 PM)admin Wrote: Why are USB flash drives formatted as FAT32?
When a UEFI-based computer starts up, the UEFI firmware loads the UEFI bootloader from the EFI System Partition (ESP). The EFI specification requires that the ESP must be a FAT32 partition, which is why USB flash drives are formatted as FAT32.
Why is the FAT32 partition limited to a maximum of 32GB?
Although the Windows graphical format tool limits FAT32 to 32GB, FAT32 can actually support larger partitions. Hasleo limits the FAT32 partition size to 32GB because we want the created USB flash drive to boot on both legacy BIOS and modern UEFI computers. When booting on legacy BIOS, if the FAT32 partition exceeds 32GB, booting will inevitably fail. Based on our tests, there seems to be no 32GB limitation on UEFI computers, but we cannot confirm that all UEFI computers support booting from a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB.
How to solve this problem?
To solve this problem, simply create two partitions on the USB flash drive: a small FAT32 partition and a large NTFS partition. The FAT32 partition is used only for storing boot files, while the WIM file is stored on the large NTFS partition. This resolves the 32GB size limitation of the FAT32 partition on legacy BIOS computers, while NTFS offers better security than FAT32, allowing users to store other files with greater confidence.
This FAQ post was created to authoritatively respond to the misinformation circulating on the Web that alleges, or suggests, that Hasleo Software sells user data.
Please consult the Hasleo Privacy Policy at the Primary Link provided above. The Privacy Policy is subject to amendment at any time, so please check it frequently if you have privacy concerns.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION
(Resulting from internal Forum Team Discussions)
Network access by Hasleo software is strictly limited to checking for software updates, downloading updates, downloading WinPE components, and sending emails. Anyone can monitor the software's network behaviour using network monitoring tools. Antivirus software would also flag any abnormal behaviour.
Payment processors and credit card data
• Hasleo now uses 2checkout and FastSpring for online sales.
• 2checkout does not provide Hasleo with users' credit card information – in fact, no credit card number is visible in its back-end.
• FastSpring shows only the last four digits of the credit card number.
• At no point does Hasleo possess the full credit card number of any user.
The software may occasionally open Hasleo's website; e.g., to display Tutorial pages or a “Thank You” web page after installation. These are normal, user‑transparent actions.
Hasleo software has never scanned sensitive user data. Antivirus and security software would detect and report any such unauthorized behaviour.
The free version can be downloaded, installed, and used immediately. It does not require users to enter any personal information, and therefore collects no user data at all.
At Hasleo, your security and privacy is of the utmost importance to us. We will only collect your personal information for defined purposes.
We do not distribute or share your personal information beyond what is strictly necessary for us to fulfill our obligations to you.
We may share your information only with partners who adhere to Hasleo's commitment to protect your privacy.
Hasleo will not sell your personal information in any manner whatsoever.
No one has ever documented a single instance where Hasleo Software sold user data.
Hasleo is committed to ensuring that its users and customers are informed as to how their personal information is used, and kept secure.
AUTHORIZED BY: The Hasleo Software Team and the Hasleo Forum Team
06-02-2026, 02:05 AM (This post was last modified: 07-22-2026, 06:46 AM by garioch7.
Edit Reason: typo corrected
)
WHY DO YOU NEED A BACKUP PROGRAM AND STRATEGY?
Primary Source: @garioch7, assisted by the Hasleo Forum Team.
Primary Links: None. This information is a compilation of information from multiple websites and sources.
This Hasleo Backup Suite (HBS) FAQs post, and the next several subsequent posts, have been created to answer very basic questions about backup (imaging) software programs for new users, including this post that answers the question:
WHY is a robust backup strategy using a reliable and well-respected backup/imaging program is so very important?
Malware, meaning malicious software, is the generic term of viruses, Trojans, rootkits, worms, ransomware, etc. Unfortunately malware is a reality for computer users. That is not surprising given the number of new malware programs being identified daily: https://www.sentinelone.com/cybersecurit...tatistics/
The primary author is a former Bleeping Computer Malware Response Instructor. He has personally disinfected multiple computers on a volunteer basis for many years, and has instructed others to become qualified Malware Removal Experts.
Many malware victims have lost invaluable data, including family photos, documents, music collections, etc., because they lacked a current backup of those irreplaceable files. Some nefarious species of malware can even render a computer unbootable and completely corrupt all data on a computer.
Moreover, malware victims lose, to varying degrees, the complete use of their computers because the malware interferes with its normal operation. Some malware surreptitiously steals user credentials, allowing the malware authors to commit fraud and other offences against the victims.
Malware infections persist. That is how they are designed. With some species of malware, it can be impossible to remove them entirely with security software. Not infrequently, an infected computer has to be completely reformatted and the user programs and data reinstalled, unless the user has a recent Disk/Partition image and an Emergency Recovery USB drive ready.
Ransomware has become the number one malware issue for many users. It is normally targeted at corporate or government entities, but as too many users have discovered, it can also target a home user. Many species of ransomware have no publicly available decryption keys, so the user data is lost forever. See this link for more information: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/...try4598991
Even the best security software cannot be 100% effective, 100% of the time.
It is wisely written that the most vulnerable link in the computer chain is the “interface between the chair and the keyboard”: the user.
AI has dramatically increased the opportunities for malware authors to send users authentic-looking emails, or hijack web browser pages, in the hope of getting the unsuspecting user to click a link that downloads and activates the malware payload.
Then there is another reality: computers rely on hardware, SSDs (solid state drives) and HDDs (hard disk drives) to store data. If those devices fail, as they inevitably do, from old age, the data is lost.
Computers, and their storage devices, are also subject to power surges, power loss when they are writing, and user abuse; for example, spilling liquids on laptop computers. Laptops are often stolen as well, and with them, the user data.
It is wisely written that:
1. If you have only one “copy” of a file: you don’t have a “copy”, you have an “original”; and,
2. You can NEVER have too many backups.
A robust backup strategy is essential to preserving your data, and even your programs.
There are those users who are comfortable with reinstalling their Windows program and then individually installing, registering their licences for those programs, and configuring their individual programs, a process that may take several days, even weeks.
Most people want to be able to simply restore their entire system from a single full Disk/Partition image to a new drive, or to the original drive that was infected, if it is still functional. Fully restoring the contents of a full Disk/Partition backup image usually takes less than an hour.
The computer experts all agree on one thing, which is unusual: a robust backup strategy is even more important than the user choice of free or paid security software!
The Hasleo Backup Suite HBS) is able to provide the most important security for your computer. It offers the user the options of:
Full disk/partition imaging, which offers a complete backup of your system, programs, settings, and files;
Fast recovery, even to a new drive, without reinstalling Windows and reconfiguring all of your preferences in Windows and your other programs.
Scheduled backups that will run automatically, so your latest image can be always kept up-to-date.
An Emergency Recovery USB, which allows you to boot from USB when your computer won't start.
In summary, if you do not have a backup, then malware, hardware failure, theft, power surge, etc., will result in permanent data loss.
With an HBS backup, your computer would be up and running as it was at the time the last backup was done, and HBS will do the complete restore within an hour.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT RANSOMWARE AND COMPUTER SECURITY:
Most reputable website that deal with ransomware infections advise against paying the ransom. There is no guarantee that if a user pays the ransom that the ransomware authors will decrypt the user data. Moreover, the user is “rewarding” and financing future malware attacks. See this link for more information: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/...try5581340
The primary author does wish to gratefully acknowledge the following people:
Russ Stamm, (@quietman7) a Global Moderator at Bleeping Computer, and a computer security expert, specializing in ransomware, some of whose Topics/posts are linked to in this FAQ.
Lawrence Abrams (@Grinler), is the founder (2004), owner, and Editor-in-Chief of BleepingComputer.com, for permission to link to the topics and posts on the Bleeping Computer website. His areas of expertise includes Windows, security, malware research, ransomware, and computer forensics. Lawrence Abrams is also a co-author of the Winternals Defragmentation, Recovery, and Administration Field Guide and technical editor for Rootkits for Dummies. He has also programmed several anti-malware utilities to identify and remove malware.
Subsequent FAQs will explain how backup/imaging programs function, and what the various backup/imaging options do. As stated, this "basic" series of HBS FAQs Topic posts is written to assist new users understand the necessity and complexity of the Hasleo Backup Suite, and imaging programs in general.
Suggestions to improve this post are always welcome. A Private Message should be sent to @garioch7 to inform him of your suggested improvements.
06-13-2026, 05:53 AM (This post was last modified: 07-14-2026, 12:57 AM by garioch7.)
HASLEO BACKUP SUITE FUNDAMENTALS AND ADVICE
Primary Source: @garioch7, and the Hasleo Forum Team.
Primary Links: None. This information is a compilation of information from multiple websites and sources.
This Hasleo Backup Suite (HBS) FAQs Topic post, the previous post, and the next several subsequent posts, have been created to answer very basic questions about backup (imaging) software programs for new users, including this post that answers the question:
HOW DOES THE HASLEO BACKUP SUITE WORK?
The Hasleo Backup Suite (HBS), like other imaging programs, employs “Tasks” to manage the user’s backup strategy. When you open the HBS program for the first time, you will be presented with an Introductory Screen on the Home GUI, which is the primary user interface of the HBS program.
You will be presented with the following options:
New Backup
Browse image to restore
Create emergency disk
Once the “Backup” component of the HBS program is opened, you will be presented with the option to create three different types of HBS primary backup Tasks:
System Backup
Disk/Partition Backup
File Backup
Subsequent HBS FAQs Topic Posts will examine and explain in detail the merits of each HBS backup option, and how to initiate/manage each HBS backup option.
You may have heard the term “Full Backup”, and you would like to do just that, so why is that not an initial option?
The answer is that it is an HBS option that is associated to a preexisting Task. The Task must be selected to be presented with the Full Backup option. That option will instruct the HBS program to repeat the backup type associated to that Task, and create a completely new version of the type of backup listed in that preexisting Task. So you must create your first backup to access that feature.
If you are a user with only one SSD/HDD (Solid State Drive/Hard Disk Drive) in your computer, the simplest and most effective, but longest solution, is to select a “Disk/Partition” backup of all partitions on your OS (Operating System) drive.
In the event of a catastrophic failure or corruption of your OS drive, you will be fully protected, IF you have a current Hasleo Backup Suite USB Emergency Disk created and ready to go. This HBS FAQs Topic post discusses, in detail, creating an HBS Emergency USB boot disk.
You need only replace the failed OS drive with another, boot from the HBS Emergency USB disk, and restore all of the partitions on your former drive to your new drive in less than an hour.
One additional note about the Hasleo Emergency USB disk: it is not recommended that you create backups when booted from the resulting WinPE environment.
(05-22-2026, 12:10 PM)Admin Wrote: “Now many computers have BitLocker encryption enabled on the Windows partition by default. If you perform a backup under WinPE, these partitions are in a locked state, and Hasleo Backup Suite can only back up in sector-by-sector mode. During restoration, since the partition is still encrypted, Hasleo Backup Suite cannot modify the data in the operating system partition to match the restored partition, resulting in the system being unable to boot.
In addition, if the Windows partition is not unlocked under WinPE, HBS cannot even recognize the operating system, making it impossible to perform a system backup.
Therefore, we do not recommend performing backups under WinPE. WinPE should primarily be used for restoration operations.”
You should also be aware that HBS offers you the choice between having its GUI (Graphical User Interface) in either Light or Dark mode. By default, HBS will default to the user’s Windows OS theme when it is installed, but you can change that in the Themes option.
One final note: at the time this HBS FAQs post was initially created, the Hasleo Backup Suite lacks a “Global” options feature. Every time a user creates a new backup Task, s/he must reselect the options that they want applied to that individual backup Task. If they do not, the default settings are used by HBS. A “Global” options feature will be implemented in a future version.
BEST BACKUP STRATEGIES:
The foremost advice is that you should always have more than one backup. Backups can become corrupted. That is why it is always advisable to initiate a Complete Image Check, rather than a Quick Image Check, to ensure that your entire image, and all of its contents, are successfully readable by the HBS program.
When restoring from a complete Disk/Partition image, the first thing that the HBS program does is to delete the existing partitions and data from the drive to be restored to, called the “Target” drive. If the restore fails due to corruption in backup file, then the user is often left with an unbootable computer, if the corruption affected critical Windows OS files.
It is always advisable to repeat a Complete Image Check on the full Disk/Partition backup before starting a restoration. If it does not pass, you may still be able to restore individual files that were not corrupted. Just because a backup reported a successful Full Check Image after creation, does not mean that no corruption has occurred subsequently.
That is one reason why it is so necessary to have more than one backup.
Very importantly, do NOT store your backups in a partition or folder on the drive being imaged/backed up. If that drive becomes corrupted or fails, your backups are gone too, as is everything else on that drive.
Always have your backups/images, or copies thereof, on an external drive, only connected long enough to accept a copy or the original of your backup image. That ensures that your backups on that external drive are beyond the reach of ransomware, and other malware. Any other internal drives may also be a target for some aggressive malware programs, including ransomware.
Also a power surge or other catastrophic event, like fire or flooding, could potentially damage all of a computer’s internal drives.
Every user will decide what is the best backup/imaging strategy for them, and there are literally thousands of effective variations of a robust backup strategy.
The author personally prefers a very simplistic backup strategy, as an example. He creates a new Task for each full Disk/Partition backup of all of the partitions on his OS SSD weekly, on which he stores all of his programs and data files.
He does not create subsequent Full, Differential, or Incremental Backups of that Task. It is completely a stand-alone Task, associated to only one full Disk/Partition image of all partitions on that OS SSD drive.
He uses Proton Drive to sync his modified data files instantly to the cloud. As well, he keeps copies on another internal drive, all of which are backed up weekly to the most recent Disk/Partition image both to an internal and external backup drive, as well as being copied to at least one external drive weekly, using a Robocopy batch file.
Many users prefer to keep their data files on a separate partition of their primary OS drive; or, if they have more than one internal drive, to another internal drive on their computer, but the latter is not an option for most laptop users. The Hasleo Backup Suite has the capacity to create only System Backups, which does not backup user data partitions on the primary OS drive or other non-essential partitions required to successfully restore your Windows operating system.
A separate Task can be created to backup the user’s data files partition, and then the user can run Differential or Incremental backup jobs under that Task to keep every modification to files in the user data files partition on a schedule that the user determines appropriate to them.
There is also the option in the Hasleo Backup Suite to create a File Backup Task. A user can select which folders s/he wishes to backup. Once that Task is created, s/he can choose how often it is backed up, and whether those backups are Full, Differential, or Incremental.
The Hasleo Backup Suite offers a very powerful scheduling option, so that your backup jobs can run without user intervention once saved to a backup Task. Many users set up schedules to back up selected folders, their entire system, or other partitions on their computers with their created HBS Tasks.
As long as the computer is on, those scheduled backup jobs will run, without user intervention. Many users like to backup their changing data daily by automatically running Differential or Incremental backups using the Scheduling option, but you can run full backups as well, via the Scheduling option in the HBS program.
Subsequent HBS FAQs Topic posts will explain what the various backup/imaging options and features do in the Hasleo Backup Suite, and offer further advice.
As stated, this "basic" series of HBS FAQs Topic posts is written to assist new users understand the necessity and complexity of the Hasleo Backup Suite, and imaging programs in general.
Suggestions to improve this post are always welcome. A Private Message should be sent to @garioch7 to inform him of your suggested improvements.
This Hasleo Backup Suite (HBS) FAQs Topic post, the previous post, and the next several subsequent posts, have been created to answer very basic questions about backup (imaging) software programs for new users, including this post that answers the question:
WHICH TYPE OF PRIMARY HBS BACKUP OPTION IS BEST FOR ME?
Some new users want to back up their entire “system”, so they mistakenly assume that the System backup is the correct choice. If a user wants to backup the contents of their entire drive, including all partitions, the Disk/Partition backup, with all partitions selected, will backup the entire contents of that disk.
The Hasleo Backup Suite (HBS) uses the same fundamental options as other backup programs, so migrating to HBS, or using it for the first time, is based on commonly-accepted backup standards.
Please open the appropriate “Primary Links” listed above, to learn the details of how to have the Hasleo Backup Suite initiate and perform these various backup options. These HBS FAQs posts do not repeat the specific instructions as to how to do the backups, but rather what the differences are, and which one, or more, you should choose, based on your needs.
So, let’s examine in more detail the pros and cons of each primary backup option.
DISK/PARTITION BACKUP:
The Disk/Partition backup option is the most comprehensive primary backup option, but that will come with the price of longest backup times, the largest backup images, and slowest “Check Image” times, compared with backing up only one or some partitions on that Disk.
The user should be aware that if s/he has a laptop or desktop computer with only one drive, some users may choose to create a separate “Data” partition, on which they store their Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Music, Videos, etc. One of the advantages of that approach is that the user can create a separate Disk/Partition Backup Task just for that Data Partition.
Once that “Data” Disk/Partition backup task has been created, the task can be used more frequently, without incurring the overhead of creating a backup of all partitions. Some of the other partitions may be installed by Windows and/or your computer manufacturer, but will not be backed up by the System backup option.
Unless you are frequently adding and deleting programs on your computer, it is generally safe to only backup the partitions related to booting Windows, which can be done also with a System backup Task, on a monthly basis, before or after the monthly Windows Updates, known as “Patch Tuesday” because they are released on the second Tuesday of each month.
If you also receive “Preview” Windows updates, which occur between “Patch Tuesdays”, you could back up before or after those as well, or wait for the monthly “Patch Tuesday” to do so, since the monthly Windows Updates always include everything in the interim “Preview Updates”.
Another issue to be aware of is that if your computer is still under warranty, many manufacturers want their partition(s) available if you make a claim, because it/those partition(s) contain diagnostic programs, and often a Windows image that was used to install their OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) copy of Windows on your computer. It is always wise to have at least one Disk/Partition backup of all partitions of the disk that has Windows installed.
SYSTEM BACKUP:
A System Backup Task completely backs up all of the OS (Operating Systems) Partitions on which essential Windows boot files are located. Usually, that is four partitions in Windows 11 (ESP/EFI, Reserved, C:\, and Recovery).
If your data files are located on Drive C:, where the vast majority of Windows program files reside, your data files will be backed up as well.
If your data files are on their own Partition, they will not be backed up.
It is faster than a Disk/Partition backup of all partitions because it excludes partitions that are unnecessary to boot Windows. The image size is smaller, thereby reducing the “Check Image” time.
Backups of the Windows OS should be performed at least monthly, if you do not have a full Disk/Partition HBS Task that is also backing up your necessary Windows OS partitions. This will ensure that you can “roll back” to a previous Build of Windows, should new Windows updates cause issues for your computer.
FILE BACKUP:
The name “File Backup” may be confusing for new users, because the Hasleo Backup Suite does more than simply backup individual files. It is a “File/Folder Backup” because it can backup some or all of the files in a folder, and it can backup multiple folders in a single File Backup Task.
This brings up another issue that that should be discussed. Some new users start creating new Folders in an unusual Drive locations. Moreover, some programs are not “well-behaved”, and may create their own data folders in the root of the C:\ drive. It is always recommended by the pros that people do not create folders in the root folder of their OS drive.
Windows offers a simple strategy for managing user data files into dedicated “Parent Folders”: Documents, Downloads, Music, Pictures, and Videos. Virtually all of a user’s data files should fit within one of those five parent categories.
The user can create as many data folders as they like under those “Parent Folders.” The huge advantage is that the user then only has to select the one or more of those “Parent Folders”, and they are backing up every sub-folder and file in that “Parent Folder”.
By default, Windows creates these top-level folders under the user account located in C:\Users\username\{Parent folder name}. Each of these folders may be relocated to a different drive, if the user has move than one disk in their computer, or they can create a separate Data Partition, if they have the room, and use File Explorer to move those "Parent Folders". This will relocate the user data from the C:\ drive, allowing it to be backed up separately from the OS.
Users should be aware that they will have to change the default "Save" locations for their programs to the new location of the default applicable "Save" folder within the "Parent Folders" for those programs.
Of course, the Hasleo Backup Suite has the capability to “drill down” and only backup up some folders and/or some files that the user chooses. The user has great flexibility as a result, to choose the files or folders, that they wish to backup frequently because they are often modified.
If the user’s data files are all stored under the default Windows “Parent Folders”, then the user need only select to backup all five “Parent Folders”, and all of their data files are backed up.
Usually, File Backup Tasks are the smallest in image size, faster to perform, and have the fastest “Check Image” times, unless the user has a tremendous number of large data files, like High Definition videos.
As always, once a Backup Task has been created, and first full backup is done, then the user has the option to only subsequently backup modified files, using Differential and Incremental Backup options for that job, which will be the subject of the next HBS FAQs post.
The following information is for more experienced users who might want to more fully understand the difference between Disk/Partition/System backups vs. File Backups.
Disk/Partition and System Backups are block‑level backups, while File Backups are file‑level backups. In fact, block‑level backups are faster than file‑level backups for the following reasons:
1. Block‑level backups directly call the underlying disk read APIs to read disk sectors; data does not pass through the file system driver, and the antivirus software generally does not intercept such raw data reads.
2. File‑level backups actually call file access APIs, which means every read/write must go through the file system driver (e.g., the NTFS driver) to parse directory structures, permissions, hard links, and other metadata, and then read the disk sectors. Then, to slow the File Backup some more, most antivirus software performs real‑time monitoring and analysis on file read operations, which further slows down the process.
Therefore, under the same amount of data, the raw transfer speed of block‑level backups is actually faster than that of file‑level backups. The reason file backups appear faster is usually because many users only select a small number of files to back up, and the image check appears faster only because the image file is smaller than that of disk/partition/system backups.
Hence, if users need to back up the vast majority of data in a partition, Hasleo recommend using the Disk/Partition (block‑level) backup option; if users only need to back up a small portion of their data files in a partition, Hasleo recommends using the File Backup option.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
When using either a Disk/Partition Task for restoring OS partitions, or a System Backup Task to restore your version of Windows from a backup, it is critically important to complete a “Complete Image Check”, BEFORE commencing the Disk/Partition or System Backup "Restore" operation.
You may have done a “Complete Image Check” when the backup was completed, but there is always a possibility that the backup image was subsequently corrupted.
The reason for this Notice is that the first step that the Hasleo Backup Suite will undertake, when directed to do an OS Backup Restore, is to wipe the OS partitions, before it commences to actually restore from the backup image, unless you are doing a “Delta Restore.” If the backup cannot be successfully read, then the restore operation will abort, with an error message.
The result is that the user will be left with an unbootable computer in all likelihood. If the user has other backup images, they might be able to successfully restore the OS, providing that they are readable.
It is also critically important to complete a Complete Image Check prior to performing a File Restore operation. This will prevent errors resulting from corrupted/missing files.
This is why it is always advisable to have more than one backup available at all times, and to preferably store your backup images on more than one drive. This is the rationale for the 3-2-1 Backup Rule, cited by the backup experts. Always have three (3) copies of your backup images, store two (2) images on different media, and keep one (1) copy offsite (in the cloud, or at another physical locationin case of flood or fire). Please see this link for complete information about the 3-2-1 Backup Rule.
New users should review the Primary Links at the top of this post, which provide step‑by‑step “How To” instructions for each main backup method.
If you have questions, please ask them in the Forum. There is no such thing as “stupid questions”. What is a mystery for you, is most probably a mystery to others!
If you think that information has been omitted from this HBS FAQs post that you would like included, or there are errors, please send a PM (Private Message) to @garioch7.
The Primary Author wishes to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of @Bespoken, Forum member and Hasleo Contributing Editor in the editing of this HBS FAQs Topic post.
This Hasleo Backup Suite (HBS) FAQs Topic post, some previous posts, and the next several subsequent posts, have been created to answer very basic questions about backup (imaging) software for new users, including this post that answers the following question:
WHAT ARE HBS DIFFERENTIAL AND INCREMENTAL BACKUPS?
Before delving into the details of Differential and Incremental backups, the question is: Do you need Differential and Incremental backups?
The answer depends on your risk tolerance, and whether you have an alternate strategy to back up your modified and new data files on a frequent basis stored on your OS drive.
Some users use OneDrive, Dropbox, Proton Drive, file syncing software, etc., to backup their new and modified data files when they are located on the OS drive. Others copy those modified or new data files manually to another internal or external drive, or do a combination of both, like the author. If your data files are stored on a partition of another drive, then there is no downside.
The downside of storing your data files on the OS drive means that all modified and new data files must be manually copied back to the disk/partition on your OS drive that stores your data files, since new or modified files after your last “Grandfather” Backup, will not be included in a restoration of that "Grandfather" backup, unless the user has also created subsequent Differential and/or Incremental backups.
System and program files are a different matter altogether. Most file syncing software is not designed to back up changes to those types of files, so that is when Differential and Incremental backups become very important, particularly if a user is making frequent changes to one or both of those classes of computer files.
The most important concept for new users is that Differential and Incremental backups are ABSOLUTELY and completely dependent on their “Parent” Full backup, of whatever type it was: Disk/Partition, System, or File/Folder Backup Task.
For our purposes, we will call that full backup the “Grandfather” backup, since that will make it easier for all to understand the next HBS FAQs Topic Post, which will explain backup scheduling; and, the Grandfather, Father, and Son (GFS) backup strategy.
@Froggie explains the importance of the “Grandfather/Parent” backup task very succinctly in this post:
(02-24-2025, 09:23 AM)Froggie Wrote: DIFFERENTIALs and INCREMENTALs are "children" images of a PARENT. A DIFFERENTIAL’s parent is a full... it cannot exist without its FULL PARENT.
INCREMENTALS may be parented by another INCREMENTAL, a DIFFERENTIAL or a FULL. Because of parental requirements, an INC parented by another INC requires that INC and its parent (which may be a INC, DIFF or FULL). All parents in a given image chain must be present for an image to be restored.
As you can see, a DIFF requires its parent FULL to be functional. An INC requires its parent DIFF (which requires its parent FULL) to be functional and present. An INC requires its parent INC (which requires its parent INC, DIFF or FULL) to be present and functional.
What @Froggie has termed a Full “Parent” Backup, we will refer to as the “Grandfather” Backup, as I previously stated.
What is important to understand is that if the Grandfather backup becomes corrupted or is inadvertently deleted, none of the subsequent Differential and/or Incremental backups will be able to be restored to your computer. Both of them must have an intact Grandfather backup to do a successful restoration.
What is a Differential backup?
Simply stated, a Differential backup includes all of the changes made to your computer that were included in the Grandfather full backup since the date of that latest full Grandfather backup.
If you did a System Backup, then all changes to the necessary files to restore Windows are included in that new Differential backup. If your data files are on their own partition, the modifications to them will not be backed up. A new Grandfather Backup Task is required to back up your files that are on a separate Data partition of your OS drive.
If, on the other hand, your Grandfather backup is a Disk/Partition backup of all partitions on your Windows disk, then any changes to that entire disk are backed up as of the date of the full Grandfather backup.
If your data files reside on another internal disk, then they will not be backed up. You will need to create a separate Grandfather Backup Task for your data disk to back up those data folders and files.
Differential backups typically take longer, and have larger backup image sizes than Incremental backups. They continue to increase in size, as they include all of the changes since the last Grandfather backup. Why?
That is because they backup all changes to what were backed up by the preceding full Grandfather backup, and thereby they eliminate the reliance on each, and every, previous Differential and Incremental backup to complete a successful restore of the last Differential backup. All of that modified data will be included in the last Differential backup so it is unnecessary to keep previous Differential (Father) and Incremental (Son) backups for that particular full Grandfather backup.
So if you only do Differential backups, after creating the Grandfather Backup Task, you only need the most recent Differential backup, which relies on its full Grandfather “Parent” backup, to restore everything to the date of the last Differential backup.
What is an Incremental backup?
Incremental backups only copy the new, modified, and deleted files since the latest full Grandfather backup, unless there is a later Differential (Father) backup, in which case the latest Differential (Father) backup becomes a “Parent” of a new chain of Incremental backups, but that Father Differential backup continues to rely on the preceding Grandfather backup.
After a first Incremental backup is completed, the next Incremental backup will only copy the new and changed files since the previous Incremental backup, if no other types of backup are run in the meantime, like a Differential or a Full backup.
Incremental backups will include all of the changes made to your computer since the last Parent backup, or any preceding Incremental backups.
If a new Differential backup is run after a chain of Incremental backups, it includes all of the modifications included in that Incremental chain of backups, but it does not use the intervening chain(s) of Incremental backups. Rather, the Differential backup goes directly back to the Grandfather backup, and backs up every change since the date that the new full Grandfather backup was run, completely ignoring any older Differential and Incremental backups, if present.
Incremental backups are the fastest, and result in the smallest image sizes. They also have the lowest reliability because they depend on an integral chain of smaller Incremental backups. Restorations are also slower because the entire chain, plus the most recent Differential backup, if present, and the latest full Grandfather backup, must all be processed to be restored.
If any link in the chain of Incremental backups becomes corrupted or unreadable, no Incremental backups subsequently created can be restored because the chain is broken. To illustrate the issue, an image is included because this can be a difficult issue for some new users to comprehend.
Incremental Backup Chain Broken
In the image above, the Wednesday Incremental Backup is corrupted, either at the time it was created, or subsequently. The result is that the Wednesday Incremental Backup, and the newer Thursday and Friday Incremental Backups cannot be restored. The Incremental Backups can be restored only from either Tuesday or Monday.
The good news is that when the next full Grandfather Backup is run, or a subsequent Differential Backup, the break in the Incremental Backup chain is unimportant, because neither the Grandfather Backup nor the subsequent Differential Backups use the Incremental chain of backups when they create their new backups.
With that in mind, the user can delete the previous Differential and Incremental Backups after the next Differential or Full Grandfather Backup. They are now redundant, unless the user should want to roll back in time to the exact date of one of those now-redundant Differential or Incremental Backups because of an accidentally deleted file(s)/folder(s), or for some other reason.
For example, in the very rare event that if a data file was created or modified and then mistakenly deleted between Differential or Full Backups, but backed up by one or more intervening Incremental Backups, it could be restored if the redundant Incremental Backups have not been deleted by resorting to an Incremental Backup.
In the scenario of the image, any files created/modified/deleted will be unrecoverable from Wednesday to Saturday because the Hasleo Backup Suite cannot mount any of the subsequent Incremental Backups in the chain after Tuesday in that scenario.
If another full Grandfather Backup or Differential (Father) Backup is not run under the Grandfather Backup task until much later, the new Incremental Backups that are continuing to be run daily, will also be unreadable and incapable of being restored, until the next Full or Differential Backup is performed.
SUMMARY
Differential Backups
A Differential Backup is typically to be used in combination with Incremental Backups when there is a reasonable amount of volatility in the data. In this combination, a full Grandfather Backup might be performed monthly, Differential Backups performed weekly, and Incremental Backups performed daily.
For an Operating System (OS) where there are frequent application software changes the combined Full, Differential, and Incremental approach may be best. With infrequent application software changes it may be sufficient to skip the Differential Backups.
[For volatile Data situations one approach could be to have weekly full Grandfather Backups, daily Differential Backups, and multiple daily Incremental Backups. With minimal changes in the Data, only full Grandfather and Incremental Backups may be needed, eliminating the need for a Differential Backup.
Differential Backups are best used when the restore speed is a priority, and to avoid the potential risk of very long chains of Incremental Backups.
Incremental Backups
The frequency of Incremental Backups should be based on the frequency of changes to your OS, programs, and/or Data, since the previous Incremental Backup. This frequency could be multiple times per day, daily, or weekly.
The next HBS FAQs Topic post will deal with one recommended strategy, used by many who want to minimize the risks associated with lengthy Incremental Backup chains, known as the GFS (Grandfather/Father/Son) backup strategy, to back up the changes to their computers daily, or even more frequently.
Once again, new users are encouraged to read the Primary Links, included at the top of this post, to read the “How To” instructions for each primary backup option.
If you have questions, please ask them in the Forum. The Hasleo Forums welcome all users, whether beginners or experienced users, and will provide quick responses to any questions.
If you think that information has been omitted from this HBS FAQs post that you would like included, or if there are errors, please send a PM (Private Message) to @garioch7.
The Primary Author wishes to gratefully acknowledge the assistance of @Bespoken, (Forum Member and Hasleo Contributing Editor) in the editing of this HBS FAQs Topic post.
This HBS FAQs Topic post does not address the “How To” aspects of the various scheduling options available in the Hasleo Backup Suite. The Primary Links cited above, and any links in the content of this post, will lead the user to the HBS Articles and Tutorials that specifically outline the steps, with instructional images of the various menu options.
This Hasleo Backup Suite (HBS) FAQs Topic post, some previous posts, and the next post, have been created to answer very basic questions about backup (imaging) software for new users, including this post that answers the following question:
HOW DOES BACKUP SCHEDULING WORK AND WHAT IS THE GFS BACKUP STRATEGY?
Before getting into the details of HBS backup scheduling, the question is: do you need the extensive scheduling options available in the Hasleo Backup Suite?
Many new users are content to create a single Disk/Partition, System, or File Backup once a month. They are not computer experts: they simply want to do their emails, Facebook, photos/scrapbooks, etc., on their computers, and have some fallback measure against data loss, as usually recommended by a more knowledgeable friend.
Unfortunately, they do not understand the importance of backups, and how vulnerable their programs and data are to various possible catastrophes, as outlined in a previous HBS FAQs Topic Post. Their more knowledgeable friends despair because of the risks that their family and friends are running. Many reluctant users have only a single backup that is ancient. Backups are not their priority, but they should be.
That is much better than no backups whatsoever, but more experienced users do not want to be caught in the position of suffering a hardware failure or a malware attack, like ransomware, that results in them potentially losing up to one month’s worth of their data, programs, and OS changes, by relying on a single monthly, or older, full backup.
Other users, like the author, make no use of backup scheduling, preferring to create a frequent Full Disk/Partition Backups on a regular basis (in his case: weekly), and using apps, such as Dropbox, OneDrive, Proton Drive, or other file syncing programs/batch files, to immediately back up changed files in the interim.
For those users who do want to have up-to-date backups, Hasleo Backup Suite offers an extensive set of reliable backup scheduling options, and which we will now explore and explain.
HBS BACKUP SUITE SCHEDULING OPTIONS
Once the initial backup task has been successfully run, the task can be amended to incorporate scheduled backups that are Full (Grandfather), Differential (Father), and/or Incremental (Son) backups, or any combination thereof, in a single backup task. The advantage for users is that these backups now run without any further user intervention.
As long as the backup “Target” drive is available, the backup schedule runs automatically, at the frequency stipulated by the user. For those users who use an external drive for their backups, that drive must be available, but that does create a problem.
To preserve backups from especially from ransomware attacks or hardware failure, it is advisable to keep those external drives offline, except for when actually creating and checking the integrity of a backup image. However, that does require some user intervention to ensure that the external drive is connected before the scheduled backup has been set to run.
If the scheduled backup is to an internal drive or to a network drive, that is not an issue, but those backups are then vulnerable to ransomware attacks. It is always prudent to adhere to the 3-2-1 Backup Rule.
Quote:Overview of the 3-2-1 Backup Principle
The 3-2-1 backup principle is one of the best practices recognized in the field of data protection, summarized by professional data recovery experts through long-term practice. This principle is simple and easy to understand, yet effectively prevents the vast majority of data loss risks.
Core Elements of the 3-2-1 Principle:
3 Backup Copies
Maintain at least 3 complete data copies, including the original data and 2 backups.
2 Different Media
Use 2 different types of storage media for backup data.
1 Offsite Copy
Store at least 1 backup offsite or in the cloud.
The core idea of this principle is "don't put all your eggs in one basket," reducing risks from single points of failure through distributed storage. Even if one storage medium fails or one location experiences a disaster, you can still recover your data from other backups.
There is one very important consideration: backups should not be stored on a separate partition of the drive on which one or more other partitions are being backed up. If that drive suffers a catastrophic hardware failure, then any backups stored on it are lost with the drive and will be unrecoverable.
The Hasleo Backup Suite can also manage the regular scheduled deletion of outdated backups that the user no longer wants to keep because they have been superseded by newer backups, by setting retention times for your various types of backups (Full, Differential, and Incremental). This frees up space on the backup target drive.
THE GFS (Grandfather, Father, Son) BACKUP STRATEGY
Users are advised to read the preceding post in which the concept of the GFS backup strategy was introduced. That will ensure that they are familiar with the terms “Grandfather”, “Father”, and “Son” backups as used by the Hasleo Backup Suite, and other backup programs.
The image above shows a sample GFS strategy in graphical format. The “Backup System” in this example is the Hasleo Backup Suite.
The key terminology of the GFS backup strategy is concisely listed below:
Grandfather Backup: The last Full backup of the type specified by the user as a Backup Task (Disk Partition, System, or File) performed at longer intervals; e.g., monthly.
Father Backup: A Differential backup created at regular intervals (e.g., weekly) between two Grandfather backups, containing only changes since the last Full backup. It includes all of the changes since its immediately-preceding Grandfather Backup. It does not make any use of intervening Incremental Backups, and they become redundant once there is a newer Full or Differential Backup.
Son Backup: An Incremental backup created more frequently (e.g., daily), containing only changes since the most recent backup. It includes all changes since the last preceding Grandfather, Differential, or Incremental Backup. It always uses the most recent backup, regardless of type.
The image above shows a monthly GFS backup strategy at work. Once a month, a Full Backup is scheduled to run. Following that Full Backup, Incremental Backups are scheduled to run daily until the next weekly Differential Backup. Subsequent Incremental Backups then use the new Differential Backup as their “Parent”, and they have no need of the previous Incremental Backups.
The backup cycle continues with a new series of Incremental Backups, until the next weekly Differential Backup is scheduled to run, or is initiated manually. Again, the preceding chain of intervening Incremental Backups becomes redundant because the Differential Backup makes no use of them, going back to the Grandfather Backup to create the newest Differential Backup that includes all changes since the date/time of the Grandfather Backup.
This series of backups of various types, Differential and Incremental, continues until the beginning of the next month in this example, when a new Full Backup is run, and both the previous Full, Differential, and Incremental backups all become redundant because they are no longer needed.
Although the example image shows seven months of Full Backups, most users don’t need to go back that far, so previous backups of all types (Grandfather, Father, and Son) can all be deleted, if disk space is limited.
To safeguard against unexpected backup loss or corruption, users are advised to keep at least two Full Backups of the GFS backup strategy shown in the sample image, so they can at least recover to the previous month, if every more recent backup since has been lost or corrupted. There is an old saying: “You can never have too many backups.”
(12-08-2023, 12:05 AM)Froggie Wrote: But please remember... once you remove those earlier Incremental backups, you cannot return to those time points via restoration. You can only return to the time points that remain, assuming they all have "parent" images to be referenced from.
As @Froggie pointed out: If you have accidentally deleted a file at some previous point in the preceding backup chains, and you discover that sad fact later, you cannot go back and restore it, if you deleted the backup chain that had it. If you have the available disk space, you should keep at least one full previous cycle of Differential and Incremental Backups.
The example shown in the GFS strategy image is but one example of a robust GFS strategy. The Hasleo Backup Suite scheduling and backup retention features are very flexible. It should meet the needs of all users, but if you find a shortcoming that does not support your needs, please report it in the HBS Forum.
The Hasleo Backup Suite also has the ability to merge backups. That is another way for users to manage available space on their backup target drive, particularly if the available space is limited. This is accomplished by merging older backups and, in that Merge process, deleting the multiple smaller backups that were merged. This capability is fully explained in the Hasleo Backup Suite Article/Tutorial: How to Merge/Delete Old Backup Files using Hasleo Backup Suite Free?.
The next HBS FAQs Topic post will deal with creating Hasleo Backup Emergency Disks.
Once again, new users are encouraged to read the Primary Links, included at the top of this post, to read the “How To” instructions for each primary backup and scheduling option. There is also an alphabetical Index of all of the many Hasleo Backup Suite Articles and Tutorials, available for the benefit of HBS users and customers, pinned, and updated regularly.
If you have questions, please ask them in the Forum. The Hasleo Backup Forum welcomes all users, whether beginners or experienced users, and will provide quick responses to any questions, as will Hasleo Support.
If you think that information has been omitted from this HBS FAQs post that you would like included, or if there are errors, please send a PM (Private Message) to @garioch7.
04-28-2026, 06:40 AM
(This post was last modified: Today, 07:33 AM by garioch7.
Edit Reason: Post Updated With New/Revised Information
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