Top 5 Portable Backup Software for Windows PC

What is portable backup software and when to use it

Portable backup software is designed to create and manage data backups that can be easily transferred and accessed on various devices. This type of software allows users to back up important files, system settings, and applications to external storage devices such as USB drives, external hard drives, or cloud storage. The main advantage is the portability, enabling users to carry their backups and restore data on different systems when needed.

You may need portable backup software in the following situations:

📌Travel and Mobility: Professionals and students who travel frequently can carry their data backups on portable devices, ensuring access to critical files anywhere.
📌Multiple Device Usage: Users who work on multiple computers or devices can easily transfer data between them without the need for constant synchronization.
📌Emergency Data Recovery: In case of system failure, data corruption, or accidental deletion, having a portable backup ensures quick restoration of important files and settings.
📌Security and Convenience: For users who prefer not to rely on cloud storage due to security concerns, portable backup software provides a secure and convenient way to manage their data backups.
📌Temporary Data Transfer: When transferring data from an old computer to a new one, portable backup software simplifies the process by creating a complete backup that can be easily restored on the new device.
📌Frequent Backups: Users who need to perform frequent backups without consuming local storage space can use portable devices to offload backup data regularly.

No matter which is your case, the first thing is to find a reliable portable backup program.

5 Best portable backup software for any computer

In this part, I'll introduce the top 5 portable backup software for Windows to you. Actually, Iperius Backup also supports Linux and macOS while Handy Backup also supports Linux.

1. AOMEI Backupper Technician

Among a large amount of portable backup software, I find that AOMEI Backupper Technician is user-friendly and full-featured. It supports all Windows PC operating systems, including Windows 11, 10, 8.1/8, 7, Vista, and XP. Here is a list of its main features:

⭐It offers different backup types for different needs. You are allowed to create backups for Windows OS, hard drives, disk partitions, or individual files.
⭐It allows you to perform auto backup according to the scheduled backup you set. You can set a backup task to run daily, weekly, monthly, or based on a special event (user login, system startup, etc.) or USB drive.
⭐It backs up only changed files since the last full or incremental backup. 
⭐It can automatically remove old backups so as to release disk space.
⭐It supports creating portable versions on a local disk, USB drive, or external HDD/SSD.

Get this powerful portable backup software now.

2. Macrium Reflect

Macrium Reflect is a robust Windows backup solution that enables you to create and schedule reliable backups. It generates disk images and file backup archives using the Microsoft Volume Shadow Copy Service (VSS) to ensure data integrity and consistency during the backup process.

🌟Key features:

• Full, incremental, and differential backups.
• Bootable rescue media to restore your system in case of failure.
• Offers file and disk imaging.

3. Cobian Backup

Cobian Backup is a free file backup tool that allows you to automate the backup of your directories and files. It can run either as a service in the background or as a standard application, offering flexibility to suit your needs.

🌟Key features:

• Create both local and remote backups (save files to the network or an FTP server).
• Backup files can be encrypted and compressed.
• No installation required; portable version available.

4. Iperius Backup

Iperius Backup is a portable and versatile backup and synchronization tool designed to protect data across Windows PCs and Servers. It allows you to create disk images and clone disks. Also, it supports backing up SQL Server databases, Exchange, and Office 365 to cloud services like Google Drive, FTP, and S3.

🌟Key features:

• Offers full, incremental, and differential backups for files, disks, and systems.
• Backs up data to local drives, FTP servers, cloud services, and NAS.
• Includes features for automation and scheduling.

5. Handy Backup

Handy Backup is a powerful tool for automatically backing up important files and folders. It supports a variety of USB storage devices, including external hard drives, pen drives, and other recognized devices. Professional Edition users can also create a disaster recovery disk using their USB drives.

🌟Key features:

• Provides options for backing up files, databases, and system configurations.
• Supports incremental and differential backups.
• Backs up to cloud services (Google Drive, Amazon S3, Backblaze, etc.), FTP, and external drives.

How to create portable backup software and use it

In this part, I’ll show you how to save a portable AOMEI Backupper on a removable device and use it to back up the target computer step by step.

Create a portable AOMEI Backupper

Step 1. Connect a portable device to your computer properly. Install and launch AOMEI Backupper.

Step 2. Click Tools from the left pane and select Create Portable Version.

Step 3. The program automatically selects the removable device you just connected as the target location to save the AOMEI Backupper portable version. If there are different portable devices connected to your PC, click Browse to select the right one.

Step 4. Click Start Creating to create a portable version of backup software - AOMEI Backupper. When the progress bar reaches 100%, click Finish.

Step 5. Safely disconnect the removable device instead of just pulling it out.

📕 Notes:
◑ The portable version created by AOMEI Backupper Technician can only be run on Windows PC operating systems. If you want a portable version supporting both Windows PC and Windows Server, use AOMEI Backupper Technician Plus to create one.
◑ You are not allowed to create an AOMEI Backupper portable version on a CD-ROM drive and a network path currently.
◑ When AOMEI Backupper is running on your PC, you cannot run the AOMEI Backupper portable version at the same time.

Back up computer using the AOMEI Backupper portable version

Let’s say you are going to backup a computer OS. Follow the instructions below:

1. Connect the removable device with the portable AOMEI Backupper to the computer that you want to back up. Find Backupper.exe in the installation directory and double-click it to run AOMEI Backupper from the removable device.

2. Click on Backup and select System Backup.

3. The program automatically selects the system partition(s) that needs to be backed up. Specify a backup storage device to save the system image.

4. Confirm the operation and click Start Backup to begin the backup process.

Other useful features you may be interested in: 

Options: It is able to comment, enable email notification, set password encryption, etc. 

 Schedule Backup: It allows you to back up the system automatically in daily, weekly,  monthly, event trigger, or USB plug-in.

Backup Scheme: It is capable of backing up only changed files with incremental or differential backup. Also, you can enable automatic backup cleanup methods and delete backup files regularly. 

Notes:

• If you have a problem using this portable backup tool, find the registration tool Register.exe in the installation directory, double-click it, and click Registry to the registry for the correct version. And that goes for any time you want to use it. 

• It's suggested to click Anti-registration to prevent your registration information from being leaked after you use the portable AOMEI Backupper.

FAQs about portable backup software

To sum up

This page introduces the best portable backup software for Windows PCs or Servers - AOMEI Backupper. It enables you to create a system/disk/partition/file backup on any computer. You make the backup task automatically and avoid the backup disk full by deleting backup files. Thus, you will always have the latest backup for your computer.

When a system crash or data loss occurs on the backed-up computer, you can run a portable AOMEI Backupper to restore the system or recover lost files. What’s more, AOMEI Backupper is wonderful portable sync software. Don’t hesitate to give it a shot!