Hasleo Backup Suite

antspants · Apr 10, 2025

ian50 said:
All current versions have a time bomb in them.

Cute ... but exactly how do you know that ? I would prefer evidence here.

Would seem really super obvious when Hasleo tells you that you can’t use that version you have anymore and you have to update

Froggie · Apr 10, 2025

Turns out all of Hasleo's products have this TIME LIMITATION feature in them... both FREE and PAID. Their argument is that their Development team is very small and they don't have the resources to chase down issues with older versions of the software... they want you to upgrade to insure you have the latest, fully supported, version.

Almost all of their PAID applications are perpetual (haven't seen a SUBSCRIPTION license in almost 10-yrs).

cereberus · Apr 10, 2025

Froggie said:
I, as well as many users on the Hasleo Forum, have brought this up to the Devs when older versions we are using... stop working. When the Time Bomb is reached and you try and start the application... the message says you must update your version in order to continue, then the application EXITs out.

If you wish real in-your-face proof... just continue to use your current version (without updating) until you get the message.

See this LINK on the Hasleo Forum as well for additional information...

Edit: The EMERGENCY DISK version (Recovery Media) does not contain this time bomb...

Regrettably (if I interpret this correctly) this means that if a (future) new free version is reduced in functionality when a paid version is introduced, user cannot keep using older version (except via winpe) to avoid reduced functionality.

Personally, I am not aware of any other imaging tool that has such an inbuilt timebomb (could be wrong though).

Froggie · Apr 10, 2025

Most likely due to other products, which offer PAID versions, having larger Development teams (to include both issue reporting, development and regression testing requirements). They can easily maintain multiple versions of their application.

Hasleo is a very small group (maybe 4-5 members, tops) and this group is needed to maintain all their current products, FREE or PAID. Their "being developed" FREE products (like HBS) are like a giant Public BETA... we, the users of Hasleo, are doing most of the regression testing and offering up feature changes that we either would like to see or that exist in other imaging products that we are using/have used. For a small Dev group, this is not a bad way to go during the product development phase. Yes, the group is small and their time tested products (they've been around for 13-yrs) seem to work very well using this process development methodology. Is their method unusual... yes, especially compared to larger application development teams (Macrium, AOMEI, etc.), but it seems to have served their products very well through the years.

ian50 · Apr 11, 2025

On Hasleo and sunset time limit:

If you wish real in-your-face proof... just continue to use your current version (without updating) until you get the message

This hasn't yet occurred on my machines, so I will just find out. I've not seen anyone here point it out yet, including Ants in his Pants. I only noted it earlier as a possibility because I have no trust in freebie longevity.

If it does happen, then obviously we're back to comparing cost/use parameters, but if Hasleo puts time limits on even paid versions then such a decision is simpler. There's little value in a Restore unit that may well time bomb on you when you most need it, even though you've paid for it.

At this stage AOMEI is still offering a lifetime pro version for multi users with the same router address for about US$90, so the field seems well enough populated. And Macrium 8 (paid) still works perfectly, as does the freeware version.

Anyway, it's valuable that sufficient people here have an answer on point.

ian50 · Apr 11, 2025

Meant to add that cereberus noted the Emergency Restore programme is apparently not time limited. Difficult to trust, I'm afraid (Hasleo, not cereberus).

ian50 · Apr 11, 2025

After that small flurry on Hasleo time limiting, I found time to sort through the issue on the Hasleo forum.

In March last, the Hasleo admin wrote:

In order to stop this kind of discussion, which does not really help to improve the quality of the product, we will stop the "forced update" mode in the version before the paid version is released. However, please note that we may reintroduce this mode after the paid version is released, and we will only provide support for the latest version.

"discussion" here means disagreement on the use of time bombs in the programme code.

So from this statement we see that the last freeware version before subscription starts will have the time limit removed - except it may be reintroduced, presumably if subscription levels do not reach some desired target.

It is pledged that an updated freeware version will always be available (albeit with fewer features - I'd suggest incremental mode backup will the first casuality, as AOMEI did). So the biggest risk then is a possible disappearance of the Hasleo group. If this statement is actually honoured, then the last time unlimited freeware update prior to subscription should work forever. Unless its' programme code contains a sleeper section, activated on a phone home. It all seems a bit grubby. We'll see.

jimbo45 · Saturday at 6:19 AM

Winuser said:
Did they change the name in Australia? I know that happens sometimes. My example of Secret Agent Man is one example. It was a British TV show called Danger Man. In the US it was called Secret Agent Man. Once my memory of this show was brought to mind I ordered it from Amazon so I could add it to my streaming collection. While I was at it, I included the TV show called The Prisoner in my order. I'm a classic TV show/movie fanatic. I don't know for sure but at 69 years old maybe I'm trying to relive my younger years by watching the TV shows and movies I grew up with.

Great channel (Free for old classic movies and TV series) is TPTV ("Talking Pictures TV") - with the streaming - TPTV Encore has some great stuff -- an interesting one is Doomwatch -- (Love those haircuts and Dress sense back then ) which was based - very relevant even today on Pollution. Climate change etc etc. Many episodes were lost -- the BBC backwhich broadcast the opriginal series then used to simply just destroy or record over TV programs it had shown - but quite a few of the episodes have been retrieved from Canada etc and you can get a DVD set from Amazon of the surviving episodes if you can't pick them up on TPTV Encore.

Back on topic -- I'd NEVER use ANY backup program that has a "Time out" system in it it should always work with a alone bootable bare metal restore. If the Backup app doesn't supply a "Bare metal restore" version - then it's not worth having !!!

Other apps can justify this sort of behaviour but if you need to restore a system - well I dislike subscription stuff anyway so 'Nuf said.

Cheers
jimbo

Winuser · Saturday at 10:53 AM

jimbo45 said:
he BBC backwhich broadcast the opriginal series then used to simply just destroy or record over TV programs it had shown

I have heard that , that is what happened to some of the original Doctor Who episodes.

Birk · Saturday at 1:06 PM

I've been using Macrium for years now - I'm currently on ver 8.1.8185 - and I've never had a problem with it.

But I tried Hasleo to see how it works in the case something bad happens to Macrium. I was pleased to see it seems to have all the right capabilities, such as being able to mount a backup file as a logical drive, the ability to repair boot sector, etc, and have comparable backup speed to Macrium with Medium compression. So I'm keeping the Hasleo installation as a backup to Macrium just in case Macrium goes wacko.

Mark Phelps · Saturday at 6:12 PM

Birk said:
I've been using Macrium for years now - I'm currently on ver 8.1.8185 - and I've never had a problem with it.

But I tried Hasleo to see how it works in the case something bad happens to Macrium. I was pleased to see it seems to have all the right capabilities, such as being able to mount a backup file as a logical drive, the ability to repair boot sector, etc, and have comparable backup speed to Macrium with Medium compression. So I'm keeping the Hasleo installation as a backup to Macrium just in case Macrium goes wacko.

I think build 8325 is the current MR 8.1 version -- and that came out in October, 2024.

I do the same -- use MR as primary and Hasleo as backup -- but I've never run across the time limiting stuff mentioned in this thread, although I do update Hasleo every time they come out with a new version. So, maybe that's why.

Bree · Saturday at 7:08 PM

Birk said:
I've been using Macrium for years now - I'm currently on ver 8.1.8185

v8.1.8185 was the initial release of Reflect LTSC.

Macrium Reflect LTSC (Long Term Service Channel), built on our trusted and proven v8.1 platform, is the first backup solution specifically engineered for mission-critical environments, OEMs, and regulated industries where predictability isn't just desired - it's essential.

Macrium Reflect LTSC

Mark Phelps said:
I think build 8325 is the current MR 8.1 version -- and that came out in October, 2024.

The LTSC version is designed to be a stable release, and as such gets very few updates. It has had just one update since release, v8.1.8439 in February 2025 containing patches that the mainstream Reflect v8.1 got 4 months earlier in October 2024.

Compare their respective release notes here: Latest Macrium Reflect 8 updates - post #1,121

Anibor_11 · Saturday at 7:16 PM

Birk said:
I was pleased to see it seems to have all the right capabilities, such as being able to mount a backup file as a logical drive, the ability to repair boot sector, etc, and have comparable backup speed to Macrium with Medium compression.

I haven´t seen the "ability to repair boot sector". Could you explain how to use it?

Birk · Sunday at 1:38 AM

Anibor_11 said:
I haven´t seen the "ability to repair boot sector". Could you explain how to use it?

Since I've not actually used the software yet I can't give you a specific answer. But this is what the Hasleo Tools menu looks like:

Froggie · Sunday at 8:37 AM

Be careful... that function is called "Rebuild MBR," not "Repair BOOT Sector." It only applies to older Legacy-MBR System configurations, not the more modern UEFI-GPT configurations.

kelper · Sunday at 8:45 AM

'Rebuild MBR' checks before acting. On my laptop it said no suitable disc found.

Birk · Sunday at 12:27 PM

Froggie said:
Be careful... that function is called "Rebuild MBR," not "Repair BOOT Sector." It only applies to older Legacy-MBR System configurations, not the more modern UEFI-GPT configurations.

Thanks for that. Macrium's "Repair Boot Sector" has saved my bacon a few times. And I'm not aware of any other program that has that capability. Consequently I'll be sure to keep both programs on my system from now on.

miw · Monday at 10:07 AM

Birk said:
Thanks for that. Macrium's "Repair Boot Sector" has saved my bacon a few times. And I'm not aware of any other program that has that capability. Consequently I'll be sure to keep both programs on my system from now on.

EaseUS Partition Master includes both, but I haven't tried it yet.

Anibor_11 · Monday at 10:13 AM

I think to repair boot sector with Hasleo you have to use Easy UEFI, which is not free.

Hasleo Backup Suite

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