Hasleo Backup Suite

To come back on the offline backup subject. This option is available. Inside the Hasleo software under tools there is the option to make a Emergency Disk. This wil build a bootable WinPE Hasleo environment. After creation this can be written to an USB-stick or to an ISO-file. (that on a later moment can be written to an CD or USB-stick) This is not a problem. If written to an USB-stick you can boot from this USB-stick, but once booted in this environment you can do..... Nothing. With Windows 11 Pro Build 26200.6899 (the latest build) the keyboard and mouse are not initialized and are dead. So you can't do anything. Spend a lot off time to search for a solution. Until.....

I have seen now some signals that with KB5066835, the update that updates your system from 26200.6584 or 26200.6725 to 26200.6899 has a WinRE issue.
This is confirmed see: Microsoft warns USB mouse keyboard users as Windows 11 KB5066835 breaks key OS feature
I assume this is also the case for users who are using Window 11 24H2 Build 26100.6899. With 25H2 it looks like they advanced to 26200.6899 as seen with System and Winver but in the Component Store (SxS) all packages are still 26100.6899, 26100.1742 etc. Aka It's still 24H2 in basis and "25H2"is just a servicepack as we have seen with older Windows versions. I had to revert to an older VM installation with 24H2 and a previous Build then 26100.6899, install Hasleo and make an Emergency Disk and write to an USB-Stick. This version does initialize the keyboard and mouse. So I can confirm there is a problem with KB5066835!

This is some serious business!!! Anyone using a WinRE environment with Build 26100.6899 (24H2) or 26200.6899 (25H2) can't restore from a previous backup since it affects all WinRE environments. Let's hope that Microsoft will patch this problem a.s.a.p.!!!

Stop building your EMERGENCY DISK (ED) using your System's RE, use the Microsoft download of WinPE or download and use the Hasleo off-line W10 or W11 WinPE builds (W11 is best due to the richest driver set). They are all older than the recently updated System REs and do not have USB3 access problems with your keyboard/mouse.

The RE problem goes back into the 24H2 area but I know not when it started.

The easiest way to deal with the ED creation and allow for the discussed options above is to reinstall your current HBS which will clear out any leftovers that mess up your ongoing ED creation options.

Hasleo uses the above mentioned "leftovers" to eliminate ongoing creation steps when building additional recovery media (an ISO, another UFD or even the BCD BOOT media <BOOT menu>). The problem is that these legacy leftovers may contain the problematic issues with a previously built initial ED.

Best to eliminate the "leftovers" and start the creation task anew. A current version reinstall WILL NOT affect any current tasks that have been created or their referenced images.... safe to do.

Froggie said:

Stop building your EMERGENCY DISK (ED) using your System's RE, use the Microsoft download of WinPE or download and use the Hasleo off-line W10 or W11 WinPE builds (W11 is best due to the richest driver set). They are all older than the recently updated System REs and do not have USB3 access problems with your keyboard/mouse.

The RE problem goes back into the 24H2 area but I know not when it started.

The easiest way to deal with the ED creation and allow for the discussed options above is to reinstall your current HBS which will clear out any leftovers that mess up your ongoing ED creation options.

Click to expand...

Rescue USB I made with earlier versions of Hasleo and 24H2 still works fine, tried and used it just the other day.

Froggie said:

Stop building your EMERGENCY DISK (ED) using your System's RE, use the Microsoft download of WinPE or download and use the Hasleo off-line W10 or W11 WinPE builds (W11 is best due to the richest driver set). They are all older than the recently updated System REs and do not have USB3 access problems with your keyboard/mouse.

The RE problem goes back into the 24H2 area but I know not when it started.

The easiest way to deal with the ED creation and allow for the discussed options above is to reinstall your current HBS which will clear out any leftovers that mess up your ongoing ED creation options.

Click to expand...

Hasleo will use the current Windows environment (and not their own old environment. It uses the current Windows system as it can be 21H2 , 22H2 , 23H2 ,24H2 and 25H2) to build their WinPE W11 environment. It will take elements of the bugged Windows environment and Hasleo itself to build a .wim file. And so long the bug in KB5066835 is not solved this issue wil pop-up when you have to use a WinRE solution. Looking away solve nothing. If you do a restore with Hasleo, it will build an WinPE environment. Don't forget to add to the task "reboot" when finished. It will after a reboot start the restore and your system will reboot when it's finished. In all the time you can't make use of your USB-keyboard and USB-mouse. They don't work because of this bug. The same will be the case if you use Windows WinRE environment.

And this is not a new issue. I can use 24H2 for building that ED and have no problem. (as long I don't update it to 26100.6899!!) There was no problem with it in the past. Never encountered this with 24H2. This is a new issue was introduced with update KB5066835. Or is the article I revered too wrong?

This out-of-band (OOB) update includes quality improvements. This update is cumulative and includes security fixes and improvements from the October 14, 2025, security update (KB5066835), in addition to the following:

• [USB] Fixed: After installing the Windows security update released on October 14, 2025 (KB5066835), USB devices, such as keyboards and mice, do not function in the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE). This issue prevents navigation of any of the recovery options within WinRE. Note that the USB devices continue to work normally within the Windows operating system.

Click to expand...

hader said:

Hasleo will use the current Windows environment (and not their own old environment. It uses the current Windows system as it can be 21H2 , 22H2 , 23H2 ,24H2 and 25H2) to build their WinPE W11 environment. It will take elements of the bugged Windows environment and Hasleo itself to build a .wim file. And so long the bug in KB5066835 is not solved this issue wil pop-up when you have to use a WinRE solution. Looking away solve nothing. If you do a restore with Hasleo, it will build an WinPE environment. Don't forget to add to the task "reboot" when finished. It will after a reboot start the restore and your system will reboot when it's finished. In all the time you can't make use of your USB-keyboard and USB-mouse. They don't work because of this bug. The same will be the case if you use Windows WinRE environment.

And this is not a new issue. I can use 24H2 for building that ED and have no problem. (as long I don't update it to 26100.6899!!) There was no problem with it in the past. Never encountered this with 24H2. This is a new issue was introduced with update KB5066835. Or is the article I revered too wrong?

Click to expand...

Macrium Reflect in WinRe mode has the same issue but easier to solve (unless WinRe is needed for WiFi backups) as you can revert to WinPE.

I think this issue actuallt affects a lot more software that use Windows RE builds to create pre Windows boot media.

I am not sure there is an easy solution overall unless MS update WinRe. In the end MS should fix the issue rather than relying on fixes from each affected software vendors.

cereberus said:

Macrium Reflect in WinRe mode has the same issue but easier to solve (unless WinRe is needed for WiFi backups) as you can revert to WinPE.

I think this issue actuallt affects a lot more software that use Windows RE builds to create pre Windows boot media.

I am not sure there is an easy solution overall unless MS update WinRe. In the end MS should fix the issue rather than relying on fixes from each affected software vendors.

Click to expand...

Fixed:

cereberus said:

Macrium Reflect in WinRe mode has the same issue but easier to solve (unless WinRe is needed for WiFi backups) as you can revert to WinPE.

I think this issue actuallt affects a lot more software that use Windows RE builds to create pre Windows boot media.

I am not sure there is an easy solution overall unless MS update WinRe. In the end MS should fix the issue rather than relying on fixes from each affected software vendors.

Click to expand...

Actually, the out of band update does fix the Macrium Reflect problem but you have to delete the cached boot.wim in the Reflect boot folder, then rebuild the media (boot menu, iso and usb flash drive).

@Froggie - maybe a similar solution for Hasleo?

I prefer WinPE over WinRE when it comes to creating boot media for image applications.

I find it boots quicker and is less prone to problems. The only downside is the download size. But that's not an issue for me.

Stigg said:

I prefer WinPE over WinRE when it comes to creating boot media for image applications.

I find it boots quicker and is less prone to problems. The only downside is the download size. But that's not an issue for me.

Click to expand...

You cannot backup over WiFi with WinPE which is handy on Emmc drives with small storage space like my travel laptop.

cereberus said:

You cannot backup over WiFi with WinPE which is handy on Emmc drives with small storage space like my travel laptop.

Click to expand...

Yep.

cereberus said:

Actually, the out of band update does fix the Macrium Reflect problem but you have to delete the cached boot.wim in the Reflect boot folder, then rebuild the media (boot menu, iso and usb flash drive).

@Froggie - maybe a similar solution for Hasleo?

Click to expand...

Exactly the same... they have a "leftovers" issue as well.

Froggie said:

Exactly the same... they have a "leftovers" issue as well.

Click to expand...

Actually, I am a bit puzzled as HBS uses WinPe not WinRE as far as I can tell?

If it uses WinPe, can you backup over wifi?

If, when creating your 1st EMERGENCY DISK after a fresh HBS install, you DO NOT SELECT the "Download Microsoft" option, HBS will use your System's resident RE to make its recovery media. If you select the download option, the WADK package for PE building is downloaded to use for recovery media creation. If after selecting the download option, you then select the "off-line" option (assuming you've previously downloaded Hasleo's Off-line PE (OPE) download and stored it somewhere), Hasleo will using the previously downloaded Hasleo OPE file to build a PE-based recovery media.

Hasleo has a PE10 and PE11 option available on their off-line OPE download page. I always use the PE11-based OPE file due to the richness of PE11's resident driver set. The OPE files are just available to keep you from having to download MS components when building recovery media. MS doesn't change their WADK packages very often... PE10 is still at 2004 and PE11, I believe, is still at its initial release of 24H2. Whenever MS updates their PE packages, Hasleo produces new OPE downloads accordingly.

As far as Wi-Fi is concerned, base PE Wims usually don' support it (haven't tested the PE11 one yet) but, as you know, both REFLECT and HASLEO allow users to add driver modules to their base WIMs. If users really wanna stay away from REs, they can use this feature to add needed wifi drivers and get the best of both worlds (wifi and no recent tinkering of base WIMs by MS).

Froggie said:

If, when creating your 1st EMERGENCY DISK after a fresh HBS install, you DO NOT SELECT the "Download Microsoft" option, HBS will use your System's resident RE to make its recovery media. If you select the download option, the WADK package for PE building is downloaded to use for recovery media creation. If after selecting the download option, you then select the "off-line" option (assuming you've previously downloaded Hasleo's Off-line PE (OPE) download and stored it somewhere), Hasleo will using the previously downloaded Hasleo OPE file to build a PE-based recovery media.

Hasleo has a PE10 and PE11 option available on their off-line OPE download page. I always use the PE11-based OPE file due to the richness of PE11's resident driver set. The OPE files are just available to keep you from having to download MS components when building recovery media. MS doesn't change their WADK packages very often... PE10 is still at 2004 and PE11, I believe, is still at its initial release of 24H2. Whenever MS updates their PE packages, Hasleo produces new OPE downloads accordingly.

Click to expand...

Thank you for clarifying that. Kudos to you.

It is not obvious it creates a WinRE version if you do not download appropriate WADK PE files.

I just uninstalled HBS and reinstalled it and then created a WinRE version and I can confirm that with the latest Windows update, all works fine.

Macrium Reflect also worked fine, once I delete the cached boot.wim (forcing a rebuild of boot.wim from updated WinRE).

I am not really bothered about this short term glitch in the Windows Winre.wim - it is not as if it happens frequently, and credit to MS - they did fix it fast (somebody will be sacked for being efficient LOL).

In the end, I keep copies of working isos (I test them of course) on onedrive, so I can always revert to version before any WinRE glitch occurs.

As an aside, I actually temporarily restored 24H2 (26100.6772) and found the winRE bug was in that, so it goes back further than people think but only really came to light on upgrading to 25H2. I would have eventually picked it up but I normally just use Windows to do set up a restore, then Macrium Reflect automatically boots to WinRe and does the restore with no user input.

The main reason thar I do Restores from Windows is that my laptop only has one usb A slot and I sometimes need to remove the mouse dongle to plug a flash drive in. In Windows mode, I can flip a switch to change the mouse to Bluetooth operation, freeing up the USB port. I cannot be bothered with usb hubs or converter cables as I always mislay them ha ha.

cereberus said:

Macrium Reflect in WinRe mode has the same issue but easier to solve (unless WinRe is needed for WiFi backups) as you can revert to WinPE.

I think this issue actuallt affects a lot more software that use Windows RE builds to create pre Windows boot media.

I am not sure there is an easy solution overall unless MS update WinRe. In the end MS should fix the issue rather than relying on fixes from each affected software vendors.

Click to expand...

I think it does not matter; every third-party backup solution who make use and depends on de WinRE capability's will have this problem since everyone rely on that WinRE environment. It's seems that the issue we had with Macrium Reflect and Hasleo is due to the fact that old stuff remaining inside their WinPE environments made during Build 26100/262100.6899 where leftovers which caused the issue persists even after the Windows fix was implemented.

Removing that old stuff seemed to be the solution. It was an easier job if we had de-installed the program. Deleting their directory's if the programs does not do this on their own and re-installing the software would be faster. I was already on 6899 and installed the new Hasleo software v.5.4.8.5 and ran against the problem. If I did not install the new version I was left with leftovers prior of 6899 and would not have any problems. The problem was intruded with 6899.

But this is all in hindsight.....

An interesting forum post by the Hasleo Software Forums administrator.