Confused about backup/rescue options

I need guidance about backup or rescue processes to use for my PC with Win11 Home. The setup is as a local machine with no link to MS and no login required. The default location of all personal folders/files is on an external drive.

The personal files are also backed up to another external drive (irregularly at present but hoping to get my wits back soon!).

System backup options are a real challenge for me to grasp since MS no longer guides this process.

Recently this forum introduced me to the Haselo Backup Suite and I've used it to create a system image. In the discussion of creating a system image, @Bree mentioned "creating an ISO" for a rescue disk and to "make a USB from the ISO" and "just mount the ISO and copy its contents to a Fat32 formatted USB." I'm still uncertain about what this means.

Can someone provide (or link me to) "Win11 system backup for dummies" instructions? I know it is still imperative to create a bootable rescue disk, but the truth is I don't even know what size is needed, especially if I add the system image backup. And when I look at the Hasleo options I find myself wondering what if I'm supposed to "add Boot Menu", etc, beyond just creating the emergency disk. (attaching image)

I was dismayed to discover (when I really needed it, of course) that Windows no longer creates the easily accessible system restore point. Does this tutorial fix that? Enable Automatic Backup of System Registry when Restart in Windows 11. I have plenty of space on my PC's hard drive to store these.

I'm so thankful to this community!

Here's how i backup my Windows 11 i use Macrium Reflect to create a backup image of the Windows 11 i also backup my personal files to second external drive if needed i use image backup to restore my Windows 11 and again if needed i use the second external drive to restore my files.

RDG said:

, @Bree mentioned "creating an ISO" for a rescue disk and to "make a USB from the ISO" and "just mount the ISO and copy its contents to a Fat32 formatted USB." I'm still uncertain about what this means.

Can someone provide (or link me to) "Win11 system backup for dummies" instructions? I know it is still imperative to create a bootable rescue disk, but the truth is I don't even know what size is needed, especially if I add the system image backup. And when I look at the Hasleo options I find myself wondering what if I'm supposed to "add Boot Menu", etc, beyond just creating the emergency disk.

Click to expand...

Adding to the boot menu means you can boot to the rescue media from the PC's own drive. This may not be possible if the drive is badly corrupted or has been replaced, so a rescue USB is an essential tool.

Usually I keep the rescue USB and the images on seperate USB drives. For Reflect a 1GB USB is sufficient to hold the rescue media, Hasleo should have similar requirements.

Creating a bootable USB from an ISO is simple. The USB should be formatted as Fat32 (most are anyway).

1. double-click on the ISO file to mount it.
2. Select everything on the mounted ISO.
3. Right click or press and hold on the selected files.
4. Click/tap on Show more options (Shift+F10).
5. Click/tap on Send to, and click/tap on the USB drive you want to use.

This will create a USB that is bootable on any UEFI PC. To make it bootable on any Legacy bios machine as well then one further step is needed. Open Disk Management. Right-click on the USB's partition and select 'Mark Partition as Active'.

@Bree Is the *.DBI file created by Hasleo an ISO file?
Also, is the Disk Management step related to this warning on the Hasleo site? "Please note that you may need to disable UEFI Secure Boot to boot from the bootable WinPE media created by Hasleo Backup Suite." Thanks.

RDG said:

@Bree Is the *.DBI file created by Hasleo an ISO file?
Also, is the Disk Management step related to this warning on the Hasleo site? "Please note that you may need to disable UEFI Secure Boot to boot from the bootable WinPE media created by Hasleo Backup Suite." Thanks.

Click to expand...

I only have limited experience with Hasleo. @antspants is an experience Hasleo user and can probably best answer that for you.

No, the Disk Management step has nothing to do with Secure Boot. It is only required if you need to boot the USB on an old Legacy BIOS/MBR machine.

Regarding Secure Boot, older versions of WinPE and WinRE have security certificates that pre-date MS's latest EFI security update. They will not be allowed to boot with Secure Boot turned on. Even older Windows install USBs will require Secure Boot temporarily turned off if you need to boot from them.

RDG said:

@Bree Is the *.DBI file created by Hasleo an ISO file?
Also, is the Disk Management step related to this warning on the Hasleo site? "Please note that you may need to disable UEFI Secure Boot to boot from the bootable WinPE media created by Hasleo Backup Suite." Thanks.

Click to expand...

No, the DBI file IS NOT an ISO file, it is a proprietary disk image file. You can create an ISO file (containing the Rescue Media) by using the "Emergency Disk" creator in the "Tools" area.