At the end of yesterday’s hopefully thrilling episode, I said I’d follow up on my experiences with Hasleo Backup Suite. I got it installed on the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (a Snapdragon X based ARM PC). I’m pleased to report it works as it should. Not only did I make and restore a backup, I also built — and successfully booted into — the program’s emergency disk. So far, looks like the Hasleo Backup Suite (Free) handles ARM PCs just fine. As you can see from its tools menu above, it even includes boot menu placement, image handling of all kinds, MBR and VSS repairs, and more. Good-oh!

Proving Hasleo Backup Suite (Free) Handles ARM PCs

How do I get from saying “it looks like Hasleo works” to asserting that the program actually, definitely does the job? That’s going to take time and repeat experience. I’m setting up a daily backup schedule. I’ll be messing around with its other tools and facilities on an ongoing basis. If something is wonky, that will probably clue me in.

I do have one additional piece of positive evidence about Hasleo, however. User Stigg at ElevenForum.com started a long-running and active thread (33 pages, 645 posts) on July 8, 2023 entitled Hasleo Backup Suite. He reports on “extensive testing of Hasleo Backup Suite over the past months” and opines that “it’s looking very promising.” Subsequent long-term traffic and interactions on the thread bear that out.

Indeed, I am coming around to the idea that Hasleo Backup Suite (Free) is a worthy successor to Macrium Reflect 8 (Free), which is no longer being updated (nor works with ARM PCs — one must purchase a license for Reflect X to gain awesome ARM access). I’ll say this, though: Reflect X is at least twice as fast at backups and restores as Hasleo, so those for whom time is money might want to ante up anyway. ‘Nuff said.

On Monday, I was finally able to interact with the Lenovo Digitial Download Recovery Service (DDRS). I used it, with the company’s USB Recovery Creator tool, to create a UFD to reinstall the factory image onto my munged ThinkPad T14s laptop (ARM-based). Having now used it with amazement and appreciation, I’m digging into DDRS to better understand what it is and how it works.

More about Lenovo Digital Download Recovery Service

About a year ago, I tried to use this tool and got nowhere. One must place a “digital work order” with Lenovo, based on the Serial Number for the affected unit, for it to build a corresponding image that then works with the USB Recovery Creator tool. Earlier, I couldn’t get this to work for some odd reason or another. This time, all went swimmingly.

I did have to boot into the UEFI to obtain the system’s serial number. With that string in hand, however, I was able to place my order. Then when I ran the tool, it created the recovery UFD I would use to rebuilt the T14s. That took about 40 minutes to complete. As you can see in the following screenshot (from WizTree) this stuff falls into a 32 GB (FAT32) partition, of which 18 GB is actually occupied

This FAT32 partition contains 18GB of files, mostly image stuff.
[Click screencap for full-sized view]

In the RECOVERY folder, you’ll find an image file named M11A16AUS.WIM (appears at left in preceding screencap). It’s the customized recovery image that the tool will use to reinstall a factory fresh Windows 11 on the laptop. Let’s call it the “factory image.”

But There’s More to Do: Before, During & After

The whole recovery process is built around a massive and complicated set of scripts (mostly PowerShell). Here’s a 10,000-ft view of what happens next, over about a 100 minute time span:

• Download and build media: Lenovo USB Recovery Creator tool downloads around 20 GB of recovery files to a USB drive (I used a modestly speedy full-sized Mushkin 64GB USB 3.0 device).
• Boot from USB: with recovery media inserted, Secure Boot disabled, and F12 run to choose the drive as the boot source, the laptop passes control to the UFD.
• Launch Recovery Environment: system boots into the Lenovo customer recovery shell built around WinPE with a variety of Lenovo tools and utilities further at its disposal. At this stage, the user confirms recovery, which wipes existing C:/boot/system drive contents.
• Reformat and Restore: Recovery tool repartitions the internal (C:) drive, then deploys the factory image, complete with Windows, Lenovo device drivers, and Lenovo apps (e.g. Vantage).
• System Boot and OOBE: The system reboots six times during the previous activities, and shows itself running a complex and convoluted unattend.xml install. After the final reboot, the laptop goes into the out-of-box-experience typical of a clean Windows install, but one based (in this case) on the Lenovo custom image.

Where Windows Wound Up

At that point I installed pending WU items and found the machine running Windows 11 25H2 Build 26200.7171. This is actually one build newer (thanks to an intervening Patch Tuesday) than ran on this PC before my ill-fated attempt to upgrade to Insider Preview for the Dev Channel.

Interestingly, Secure Boot and BitLocker are both turned off for the running image. I believe that makes it safe for me to attempt another Insider Preview upgrade to Dev Channel. This time, I’m going to make sure I have a current image backup with working recovery media first. That’s much faster than using the Lenovo Recovery UFD.

Next week, I’ve asked for an interview with the Lenovo engineers who built the DDRS and the Recovery Tool. That should shed further light on this amazing environment and toolset. I’ll share that info in a future blog post. Stay tuned, and Happy Thanksgiving (for those who celebrate same).

It’s been a long time coming, and long time gone. Back in the Windows 7 era (public release: July 2009) it included a Backup and Restore utility for image backups. Indeed, it persists to this day in Control Panel in both Windows 10 and 11 as Backup and Restore (Windows 7). Starting with Build 26220.7271, Windows 11 regains a built-in image-based backup. It is explicitly more granular, faster and light-weight, better integrated, more reliable, and fully automated than other Windows options. To say that VSS delivers new Windows 11 point-in-time restore implies those foregoing qualities. But it also means that MS offers a much more potent restore tool than the Windows Backup app.

Digging into VSS Delivers New Windows 11 Point-in-Time Restore

Let’s explore the advantages of Point-in-Time restore vis-a-vis the old Windows 7 image backup utility and the Restore Point facility available through Control Panel > System Properties > System Protection:

• Granularity
  • Windows 7 image backup: Restores the entire system image (.vhd) — all or nothing.
  • Classic restore points protect system files, registry settings, drivers and installed programs, does not back up personal files.
  • Point‑in‑time restore: Rolls back only system state, drivers, or updates to a chosen snapshot, leaving user files intact.
• Speed & Convenience
  • Image backup required large storage space and long write times.
  • Classic restore points work more like a mini reinstall with multiple reboots with typical times of 10-30 minutes.
  • Point-in-time restore points are lightweight, created automatically before updates or app installs, and apply quickly (5-15 minutes).
• Integration
  • Image backup was a standalone utility buried in Control Panel.
  • Restore points work through the Control Panel based System Restore utility.
  • Point‑in‑time restore is integrated with Windows Update, Recovery Settings, and System Restore, making it seamless for non‑technical users.
• Reliability
  • Image backup often failed if the destination disk wasn’t large enough or if VSS writers conflicted.
  • Classic restore points may fail for lack of disk space or VSS writer conflicts.
  • Restore points use VSS snapshots but are optimized for consistency and modern storage stacks.
• User Experience
  • Image backup required planning, external drives, and manual scheduling.
  • Using classic restore points is a manual process, requires identifying and selecting items.
  • Point‑in‑time restore happens automatically in the background, with minimal user intervention.

But Wait…There’s More!

Indeed, all four of my favorite (and free, except for Macrium) backup utilities also work atop a VSS foundation. That means Macrium Reflect (no longer free), EaseUS ToDo Backup, AOMEI Backupper and MiniTool ShadowMaker all use VSS to provide shadow copies that it may use itself (or use that very MS service) to operate on Winodws images for file and system backups.

I’m tickled to see this capability show up on my X380 Yoga for 26220.7271. If it’s still on gradual rollout, you may be tickled to see it show up on a test PC or VM, too. Enjoy!