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04-28-2026, 06:40 AM
(This post was last modified: 4 hours ago by garioch7.
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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.
Hasleo Backup Suite FAQs Index
How To Create a Hasleo Backup Suite Emergency Disk (HBS-ED)
(Last Revised: 2026-06-18)
How Does Hasleo Software Safeguard User Data, and What User Data is Collected?
(Initial Post Date: 2025-05-28)
Why Do You Need A Backup Program and Strategy?
(Initial Post Date: 2026-06-01)
Hasleo Backup Suite Fundamentals And Advice
( Initial Post Date: 2026-06-12)
Disk/Partition, System, and File Backups
( Initial Post Date: 2026-07-13)
Differential and Incremental Backups
( Planned)
Backup Scheduling and the Grandfather, Father, Son (GFS) Backup Strategy
( Planned)
What Is Delta Restore?
( Planned)
- The Hasleo Forum Team
Revised: 2026-07-13
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04-28-2026, 07:09 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-19-2026, 06:21 AM by garioch7.
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How To Create a Hasleo Backup Suite Emergency Disk(HBS-ED)
Primary Sources: How to Create WinPE Bootable Media in Hasleo Backup Suite - Tutorial
@ Froggie
Primary Links: https://www.easyuefi.com/backup-software...media.html
https://www.easyuefi.com/forums/thread-4...l#pid12599
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.” https://www.easyuefi.com/forums/thread-4...l#pid12599
(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.” https://www.easyuefi.com/forums/thread-4...l#pid12622
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
(assembled from multiple sources)
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.
EDITORIAL ASSISTANCE BY:
The Hasleo Forum Team; and,
@ Bespoken - Contributing Editor.
Revision Date: 2026-06-18
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05-07-2026, 06:27 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-26-2026, 06:04 AM by garioch7.
Edit Reason: Initial Post
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How Does Hasleo Software Safeguard User Data, and What User Data is Collected?
Primary Sources: Hasleo Privacy Policy, and Hasleo Forum Team Internal Discussions
Primary Link: https://www.hasleo.com/privacy.html
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
Revision Date: 2026-05-28
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06-02-2026, 02:05 AM
(This post was last modified: 06-26-2026, 06:05 AM by garioch7.)
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 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 soft ware, 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
This link details the scourge of ransomware: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/...e-spreads/
This link, and its many posts, provides an expert’s perspective on the importance of computer security and the many malware risks that exist: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/...practices/
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.
Original Posting Date: 2026-05-29
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06-13-2026, 05:53 AM
(This post was last modified: 4 hours ago 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:
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:
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.” https://www.easyuefi.com/forums/thread-8...l#pid13169 You may also click the click the green arrow in the Quote Box to go directly to the quoted post in the context of the original Thread/Topic.
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.
Post 5 Initial Date: 2026-06-12
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4 hours ago
(This post was last modified: 4 hours ago by garioch7.)
HASLEO BACKUP SUITE: DISK/PARTITION, SYSTEM, & FILE BACKUPS
Primary Sources: @ garioch7, with the assistance of the Hasleo Forum Team.
Hasleo Backup Suite Articles and Tutorials
Primary Links: https://www.easyuefi.com/backup-software...ackup.html
https://www.easyuefi.com/backup-software...ackup.html
https://www.easyuefi.com/backup-software...lders.html
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 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 into 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”.
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 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 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.
This applies equally to File Backups. Always check do a Complete Image Check before commencing a "Restore", or corrupted/missing files could result at the end of the Restore operation.
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 location in case of flood or fire).
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. 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, in the editing of this HBS FAQs Topic post.
Initial Post, Date: 2026-07-13.
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