Disk Imaging Solutions with UEFI Support

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UEFI logoIf you want to create a disk image of a system with a UEFI motherboard, you might be surprised to learn that your backup software doesn’t support it.  Here is a list of disk imaging software that supports UEFI.

Some Background – Why UEFI?

UEFI is a specification for software that connects a computer’s operating system to its firmware.  Basically, it’s the first program that runs when a computer is turned on.

UEFI is a relatively new specification.  It’s set to replace BIOS, which has been around since 1975.  UEFI has several advantages over BIOS, most important perhaps is the ability to boot 2 TB+ drives.  However, booting a large hard drive isn’t the only reason you’ll want to choose UEFI.  UEFI also has faster startup times when resuming from hibernation, and it better protects against bootkit attacks.

Steven Vaughan-Nichols of ITWorld.com has a great article, Goodbye BIOS, hello UEFI, that gives other reasons you’ll want to ditch BIOS in favor of UEFI.

As preparation for this post, I went through every program on my list of best disk imaging software, to check if UEFI is supported.  Here are the results.

Acronis True Image

UEFI: Supported

Acronis True Image has full support for EFI-based systems, as it has been documented in their knowledgebase.

Paragon Backup & Recovery

UEFI: Supported

Paragon Backup & Recovery has “Complete uEFI support” according to their features and system requirements page.

Retrospect

UEFI: Supported

Retrospect added UEFI support in a September 2014 update, with the ability to backup and restore local and remote Windows EFI clients.

EaseUS Todo Backup Free

UEFI: Supported

An EaseUS support rep told me, “Todo Backup Free can support UEFI boot mode without any issue.”

Handy Backup Professional

UEFI: Not supported

Handy Backup doesn’t support UEFI at this time, according to Novosoft LLC.

Aomei Backupper Standard

UEFI: Supported

AOMEI Backupper fully supports UEFI for boot, backup, and restore.

Acronis Backup

UEFI: Supported

Like True Image, Acronis’ business line of disk imaging software supports UEFI as well.

NTI Backup Now EZ

UEFI: Supported, but only in version 4 and up

I reached out to NTI, and they replied “Support for UEFI is only available in Backup Now EZ 4, and Backup Now 5.5 doesn’t have support for UEFI.”

Macrium Standard

UEFI: Supported

Macrium has support for the latest UEFI motherboards with GPT booting.  They also have this handy guide to restore an MBR system image to a UEFI/GTP disk.

NovaBACKUP Professional

UEFI: Supported

NovaStor added UEFI support to their signature line of backup software in April 2013, as shown in this announcement.

NTI Backup Now 5.5 Advanced

UEFI: Not supported

Confirmed with support rep.

ShadowProtect Desktop

UEFI: Supported

StorageCraft added support for UEFI boot, secure boot, and 64-bit drivers in early 2015.

Paragon Backup & Recovery Free

UEFI: Supported

I asked Paragon if UEFI is supported with their free software as well.  They replied, “Yes, we support both uEFI and BIOS.”

Geoff Akerlund

Geoff Akerlund

Geoff Akerlund is the founder and editor-in-chief of BackupReview.com. He enjoys attending music festivals, whitewater kayaking on the American River, and board game nights in his free time.

Geoff Akerlund

@backupsoftware