Hasleo Backup Suite

I've been following some extensive testing of Hasleo Backup Suite over the past months, and it's looking very promising.
It might be a good option for anyone looking for a free alternative to Macrium Reflect.

Hasleo Backup Suite | Completely Free Windows Backup Software Helps You Protect Windows OS and Data Security

• Backup & Restore, clone Windows OS, disks, partitions and files (folders).
• Supported backup modes: full, incremental and differential.
• Supports compression, encryption, splitting and merging of backup image files.
• Automatically and regularly perform backup task with backup schedule.
• Image retention policy and centralized backup task management.
• Convert MBR to GPT or convert GPT to MBR by restoring or cloning.
• Creation of WinPE emergency disk and command line interface (CLI) support.Improved
• Supported OS: Windows Vista/Server 2008 or later, fully compatible with GPT and UEFI.

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Hasleo Backup Suite Version 3.6 Released

Version 3.6 Change Log (July 07, 2023)

• Command line interface support
• Fixed compatibility issues with VPNs like Windscribe
• Fixed bug: Fixed some issues that caused file backups to fail
• Fixed bug: UI crashes when deleting operation logs
• Bulgarian language support
• Fixed some bugs to improve product quality

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Thanks so much for sharing what appears to be very promising free software.

My system is running on a Hasleo backup as I type. Thanks!

Scott said:

My system is running on a Hasleo backup as I type. Thanks!

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Hi Scott,
In your opinion where is the 'ideal' location to save a backup image, of course I know not to save it on the drive that's to be backed up.

@Stigg - I am also considering Hasleo after reading the following article, which is in 3 parts: -


Extracts that I found of interest from the article: -

1. There is no option to auto-verify the image. The image can be checked manually though.
2. 34 GB in 4 minutes so speed seems okay.
3. Exploring the image is done within Hasleo itself. You can't mount the image for viewing in File Explorer.

@Davy49 - In case Scott doesn't reply: - I save my images to two external USB SSDs. I have two backups in case one of them gets corrupted or encrypted by Ransomeware. Never rely on just one backup.

Yes , Macrium , first !
AoMEI , second .
Hasleo, Paragon , third .................every 5 days new backups , stored on two ext.HDDs !

Always safe .........!!

My main beef with Hasleo is you have the 4 standard partitions and have a 5th data partition and you only want to backup the windows partitions, it only backs up the efi, msr and C drive but not the recovery partition.

I did quite an extensive survey.

Davy49 said:

Hi Scott,
In your opinion where is the 'ideal' location to save a backup image, of course I know not to save it on the drive that's to be backed up.

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Ideal. Saved to a drive that is stored offsite from your home. If your house were to burn down (which my sisters did), you would lose your source and your backups in the event of a fire.

My main issue with Hasleo is that it complains about file system corruption and insists on doing a sector-by-sector backup, which I do not want, even though I have run filesystem checks numerous times and they all come back clean. So, to me, it is useless.

wiganken said:

@Stigg - I am also considering Hasleo after reading the following article, which is in 3 parts: -

Hasleo Backup Suite Review - Part 1 | Daves Computer Tips

This is part 1 of a 3-part review. Make sure to check out all 3 parts for the full review. With the announcement of Macrium Reflect free being retired, I decided to take a closer look at Hasleo Backup…

davescomputertips.com

Extracts that I found of interest from the article: -

1. There is no option to auto-verify the image. The image can be checked manually though.
2. 34 GB in 4 minutes so speed seems okay.
3. Exploring the image is done within Hasleo itself. You can't mount the image for viewing in File Explorer.

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There is a mistake on the third page. Aomei free edition can create recovery environment.

Update: I decided to try Hasleo and I am well impressed at image creation speed and I found that there is the option to check the image after creation. My post #6 stated the option did not exist but that was from Daves article. Details are as follows: -

30th June 2023 - For comparison purposes - The last Macrium Reflect FULL image created was 59.57 GB (Compressed size) took 13m 6s to complete including Auto Verification. This included all 4 partitions on Disk 1 (GPT).
.....................................................................................................

9th July 2023 - Hasleo Backup Suite (HBS) installed and created first FULL backup of the same 4 partitions on Disk 1 as Macrium.
Image size 60.7 GB (Compressed size) took only 9m 33s including ‘Complete image check’.
Creating the image took 5m 16s then ‘Complete image check’ took another 4m 17s. Total 9m 33s.

Interestingly HBS created a new folder for image location.
I told HBS to save the image to D:\HP Desktop\ folder but it added a sub-folder Disk Partition Backup 20230709115700\: -

Location: D:\HP Desktop\Disk Partition Backup 20230709115700\

Filename: Disk Partition Backup 20230709115700_20230709_Full_V1.DBI

Simple and quick. Impressive as regards image creation and checking.

I have not tried creating a bootable drive or restoring anything yet so can't comment on these aspects except to say that one needs to be cautious according to Dave's comments: - Hasleo Backup Suite Review - Part 2 | Daves Computer Tips

If anyone has used the HBS Restore from boot disk image I would be interested to know if it really is something to be scared of before I try it.

I tried 'Create an Emergency Disk' and it would not recognise my 500 GB external SSD. I also tried it with a 64GB USB flash drive and that seemed to create the disk but then the drive was not recognised when trying to boot from it. This defeats the object of an emergency disk. I consider this so important that I will no longer consider Hasleo.
Really disappointed. I had such high hopes. See my post #13.

@wiganken -- one of the issues I found trying to use Hasleo is that, unlike with Macrium Reflect, it does not automatically load the PCs drivers onto the rescue media; instead, you have to do it manually. First Emergency Disk (actually, USB stick) I made would not work, either -- until I rec recreated it adding drivers. This basically makes using one USB stick for multiple PCs an unlikely scenario -- and it one of my reasons for NOT using Hasleo.

I expect it uses winre.wim so it depends on winre recognizing the hardware.

Maybe they will include an add drivers option later.

OH my Gawd! Here we go again!

The most SANE thing I've read here so far is to keep your backups "OFF Premises" in case of fire, theft, Hurricane, flood, or falling space debris!
I've created backup systems for one Bank and one County, and in both cases the backups were stored in a fireproof vault, away from the originating computer. Computers can be repaired or replaced, lost data files cannot.

OH, by the way, since 1997, I've been using "Ghost" for all my partition backups and cloning. It's simple, easy, and just never fails. And it runs from a bootable Flash Drive, CD, SD Memory Card or even a 3.5" Floppy Disk.

As for Data backups, I run a little batch file that I wrote, using XCOPY to do all my daily backups, to two different removable media. It takes only a few seconds to do a daily data backup.

It's Sunday....see ya in the funny papers!

TechnoMage2021 said:

OH, by the way, since 1997, I've been using "Ghost" for all my partition backups and cloning.
View attachment 64365

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You never mentioned that before.

I emailed support@easyuefi.com about this issue and here is their reply. I reckon I will try Hasleo again but not until 2024 to give them time to iron-out the bugs. It is a product that is actively being developed but it currently has too many problems: -

SIW2 said:

You never mentioned that before.

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The old Norton Ghost still works -- although only using it on an XP VM !!
Simple, fast for its day etc -- for a basic tool it did its job.

Still for those who have the WSL or Linux VM's -- simply run the DD command -- can't be easier, copies any sort of file type, copies files, disks, partitions etc.

In Windows - just boot a Winpe system and run the xcopy command e.g "xcopy c:\ f:\ /s /e /h /i /c /y" and press Enter to copy all the files and subdirectories (including any empty subdirectories, any system, or hidden files) from partition C to partition F for example.

For basic Disk copying , cloning etc there's plenty of ways to do it without needing 3rd party software especially if you have to pay for it.

You don't have to be a Windows guru but a basic knowlege of the command line never hurts. The advantage of the Linux DD over the xcopy method though is that you can re-direct the copy to a file and then you can compress it via tar, ark zip or whatever if you want to save disk space.

Of course paid software often has features like incremental / differential backups and makes it easier to keep track of backups etc. Depends on what you need of course -- but for basic cloning / copying xcopy works.

For nostalga : Norton Ghost



Cheers
jimbo