Solved Please recommend a Win11 Backup Imager

I'm about to start using Windows 11 for the first time on a new PC. I've looked at some backup imagers, but I'm a little confused by the choices.

All I want to do is manually make backup images of my primary partition which holds my OS (win11). I keep my more custom data on other partitions. I don't want to do incremental, automatic, or sector by sector backups. I would like to encrypt with a password. So, my needs are very simple. My reason for having a backup is to have something to go back to if there's some corruption of windows or if I install something I regret or if there's malware or a weird bug, etc. Basically, I want to install Windows and all the apps I like to use, tweak the settings to my liking, then make an image. That's the image I want to restore to.

What I'm not clear about is whether or not I need to backup the Recovery Partition or the EFI System Partition. I'm really not entire sure what these partitions are for, but in the past I used to use Acronis True Image and it would back these partitions up as well. Do I need to backup these partitions each time I am backing up my primary partition?

I've looked at a few imagers. They seem to have far more features than I need and it's not clear to me in many cases if they back up the Recovery or EFI Systems partitions. Macrium Reflect's seems a popular choice, but the free version is no longer updated. EaseUS Todo is another free option, but again, like Macrim Reflect, it's not clear to me if they back up the Recovery or EFI Systems. I'm not opposed to paying for an Imager, but I don't think I need all the features.

I'm hoping someone with some understanding of the Recovery and EFI Systems partitions can recommend an Imager that meets my basic needs. Thank you!

xrobwx71 said:

I have been using Hasleo for a while on multiple systems. It is free.

If you want to restore the mentioned image and immediately boot from it then yes, you need the Recovery and EFI partitions. If you just want to browse the main image and pull individual files from it then no, you do not need the mentioned partitions.

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Thanks for your response.

Yes, create an image that I can immediately boot from. I have no interest in just browsing the image and pulling files from it, but I realize that's a common feature in Imagers.

I just downloaded and tried out Hasleo. I doesn't seem to do the Recovery and EFI partitions automatically along with the OS partition but it does list them and I was able to select all three and make an image. I haven't done the restore yet. Have you backed up then restored all three before? Is it a pretty easy process? This might be a good Imager for me. It's similar to EaseUS todo.

Have you been using Hasleo for a while? Is it still maintained and updated? Any reason to think it won't support Windows 11 in the future? Does it phone home or do anything to compromise my privacy? It looks pretty clean.

Again, I don't have any precious data. I restore only when I have a problem I don't want to troubleshoot or I installed something and it's hard to UNinstall or things are just running slower than usual for unknown reasons. With an image I can restore Windows to a clean slate just after it's installed and just after my apps and preferred settings are in establlshed. I might use my PC for years and then go back to a backup that's essentially a snapshot of my Primary Partition just after installing Windows. Then I just update windows and go back to using my computer.. Sorry if I'm being redundant. Are there things that I might do over time that would make backing up the EFI and REcovery a bad choice? Say I create, delete or resize partitions on my harddrive (but not the OS partiion, the EFI, or the recovery), then go back and restore the image. Is that a problem? I've read some basic info on the EFI and Recovry partitions, but I'm still confused as to how they would impact me in the scenario I described.

xrobwx71 said:

I have been using Hasleo for a while on multiple systems. It is free.

If you want to restore the mentioned image and immediately boot from it then yes, you need the Recovery and EFI partitions. If you just want to browse the main image and pull individual files from it then no, you do not need the mentioned partitions.

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xrobowx71,

I wasn't able to edit my post probably because I'm new, but I wanted to update a little.

Using Haselo, I didn't restore yet, but I've started and then backed out of it enough to see the options. I now see I am able to restore all three partitions at once all back in their correct partitions. That's pretty slick. Thanks for bringing this software to my attention.

However, I'm a little confused as to what to back up and what's my recovery partition and what's my EFI Systems Partition.

Looking at my current Windows 10 PC where I'm testing Haselo.... When I look at Disk Managment, I first see listed an unnamed logical drive that reports 485 mb. Next listed is my 100mb "Healthy (EFI Systems Partition)". Third up is my OS partition (C. I think the first one is my Recovery partition. I never intentionally did anything to this first partition to change the name, but maybe something happend over the years. Seems to work fine.

Anyway, when I use Haselo to create image from Disk it show me the following to select from:

*(Other) followed by "0.00 MB free of 128.00 MB"
*NTFS) followed by 51.71 MB free of 485 MB
*FAT) followed by 73.39 MB of 100.MB"

The forth listing (not shown) is clearly my OS partition. Based on Disk Management's reporting of partition size, I'm guessing that *NTFS) is my Recovery partition, and *FAT) is my EFI Systems Partition. It's unclear to me what the *FAT) partition is or what it's for, and it's definitely not listed by Disk Managment. I don't recall ever using FAT system on this hard drive but it's been years and maybe I'm mistaken. Maybe on my new PC when I install Win11 on a fresh harddrive I will only have "Other" and "NTFS" along with the OS partition? When you use Haselo, do you see anything like this weird unreported "FAT" partition?

xrobwx71 said:

Yes, I have.

It is the partition Windows uses to boot.

Very easy.

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lol. Sorry for those long posts. Is there an edit feature that appears once I'm no longer a "new" member?

I think Hasleo will work for me and I thank you for the recommendation but to repeat, what I find confusing is that there are three partitions other than the partition actually holding my OS. Namely:

Other.... 0 free of 128mb
NTFS... 51.71 mb free of 485 mb
FAT32... 73.39 free of 100mb

I was only expecting two.. the EFI Systems Partition EFI and Recovery Partition. I agree, the FAT32-100mb is the EFI. I'm guessing the NTFS-485mb must be the Recovery Partition. Do you have 3 listed when you run Hasleo? In the past when using a different Imager (Acronis) only the NTFS and FAT were detected, and Disk Management only shows the NTFS and FAT32. What's the "Other" and do I need to back it up?

If this isn't something you understand just say so. I'd much rather that than a guess. Don't be insulted by me saying this. I don't know you from Adam and so far as I can tell there's no one else seeing this but you during my trial period here so there's no peer review, so to speak.

Thanks sincerely for your help!

xrobwx71 said:

When you install Windows, unless otherwise manipulated, It will create 3 partitions: UEFI/EFI, Recovery and Data.


Yes I do. I would not worry about it, it all sounds very normal to me.

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I've never heard of a "data" partition, least of all one that's 100% full. Can you tell me anything more about what it's for? (I'll do my own research but I'm trying to catch you before another day goes by.)

Assuming it's all good, would best practice be to backup all three partitions + the OS partition when making an image? Is that what you do?

Also... besides the "other" partition being 100% full, why would Windows create a partition that even Window's Disk Management can't see? They show the EFI drive and if you mess that up it can create big problems so I doubt they would hide it for fear of people manipulating it on purpose or by mistake.

xrobwx71 said:

The Data partition is where your files are stored, usually the C: drive.

I have 4 partitions as well.

The why's: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/w...t-based-hard-drive-partitions?view=windows-11

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Yeah, good answer. From your link:

Microsoft reserved partition (MSR)​

The size of the MSR is 16 MB.


Add an MSR to each GPT drive to help with partition management. The MSR is a reserved partition that does not receive a partition ID. It cannot store user data.

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And if I add up all my partitions (not counting EFI and Recovery) and multiple by 16MB it equals 128 MB. Bingo. Great job identify and explaining this, Xrobwx.

Now, when I do an image backup of my OS partition I know I include EFI and Recovery, but do I include the "Data" partition or not?

xrobwx71 said:

I would. I have tried to eliminate those partitions in the past and have run into problems.

That 4th partition could be similar to the Windows recovery partition put there by the O.E.M. for its own version of recovery.

Windows recovery partition is utilized when you choose to refresh/restore inside Windows Settings. The O.E.M. partition would be used with the OEM's included recovery software.

O.E.M. = Original Equipment Manufacturer i.e. HP, Dell, Asus, etc.

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I read your linked article on the partition but I still don't really understand what it's storing but I guess it doesn't matter. I built this PC myself from components 9 years ago. Started with an OEM home copy of Win8 which, of course, is now updated to 10. I've used a paid version of Acronis True Image since the start to manually make and restore "full" images and never had a problem. Acronis only saw the EFI and Recovery partitions and never the "data' one. That suggests to me it's not necessary, but it's small enough I can just include it. Still, it stinks to have to slow down the backup process for something that probably isn't necessary.

I'm building a new rig right now which will use Win11, something Acronis say it doesn't officially support. I think the Hasleo you suggested will work for me.!