AOMEI Backupper Standard is a free backup program. It works by making a full disk image of your hard drive, which can later be restored in the event of a disaster.
Pros
- Free
- Backup entire hard drive with full disk imaging
- Individual file/folder backup new
- Scheduling
- Disk cloning tools
Cons
- None
The Bottom Line
I found AOMEI Backupper Standard to be an easy to use, full system backup utility.
Backing Up
Backupper works by making an image file of your hard drive, which can then be restored to the exact state the drive was in when the backup was made. Choosing “Disk Backup”, you’ll be guided through the process of selecting which drive to backup, where to store the backup, and finally creating it.
AOMEI Backupper can take full, incremental, or differential backups. Incremental backups only back up changes since the last backup, and therefore save the most disk space. There are some advanced settings available, such as compression, splitting the backup, and password protected AES encryption. It can also copy locked and open files.
The newest version of Backupper has scheduling, so you don’t have to manually run backups anymore.
Restoring
If you want to restore within Windows, you can. However, the program will need to restart your computer to finish restoring the disk image. To restore in case of a system failure, you’ll need to create recovery media. Any blank CD, DVD, or USB thumb drive will do. You’ll want to create this before problems occur, such as when you first install AOMEI Backupper. The boot recovery environment looks very familiar. You can backup, restore, and perform the same functions as in the desktop version.
Since I had multiple backups, I was given the option to select which recovery point to restore. I then selected which drive I wanted to restore to, and after a few confirmation screens, the software began (and completed) restoring my drive. I was impressed with how easy the system recovery was; I can see how users with little computer knowledge could use AOMEI Backupper to backup and restore their system. There’s nothing complicated about it, as the software is easy to understand and navigate.
Features
Disk and Partition Clone
Bought a new hard drive? AOMEI Backupper can copy all your data over, system files and all.
Mount Backups
Backupper is mostly “full disk imaging” software, however you can restore individual files by mounting backups as local drives, and copying/pasting files you want to restore.
Support
AOMEI states they provide full support for their freeware. I emailed their support department and was responded to within 1 business day. There are also user guides, videos, and a list of FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) on their website.
Summary
There’s a serious lack of free, full disk imaging software on the market. So I’m happy to see this isn’t a watered down version of some paid software. AOMEI Backupper can backup your entire hard drive quickly, easily, and for free. I highly recommend it.
Specifications | |
Product Name | AOMEI Backupper Standard |
Version | 2.0.1 |
License | Freeware |
Price | Free |
Operating Systems | Window |
Backup Types | |
Files and Folders | |
Full Disk Image | |
Incremental | |
Differential | |
Backup Destinations | |
Hard Drive | |
Removable Media | |
Network Shares | |
Blu-ray | |
CD/DVD | |
FTP | |
SFTP | |
Online Storage | |
Features | |
Compression | |
Encryption | |
Email Notifications | |
Error Handling | |
File Versioning | |
Priority Setting | |
Scheduling | |
Speed Limiting | |
Synchronization |