AOMEI Backupper Help Guides

System crashes can occur due to various reasons such as hardware damage, virus attacks, or system updates. However, reinstalling the operating system, along with all applications and configurations, can be a time-consuming and troublesome process. Fortunately, by implementing a proactive system backup strategy, you can mitigate these challenges. With a reliable system backup in place, you can easily restore your entire system and quickly resume normal operations.

AOMEI Backupper is an excellent solution that offers a user-friendly system backup feature for all Windows operating systems, including Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8, 7, XP, Vista, and server systems. This powerful tool focuses on creating an image of the C: drive and other system-related partitions, encompassing critical system and boot files, installed applications, and user profiles stored on system partitions.

Create System Image Backup in Windows 10 step by step

Prerequisites for system backup:  

• The bootable computer that you want to back up from. 
• A target drive (with enough free space) that you can save backup images to. A local path and Share/NAS devices are supported.
• Download and install AOMEI Backupper on the computer. The basic system backup is a free feature, you can download and use the freeware on the computer. 

But, if you want to back up the Windows server system, you need to purchase the Server or Tech Plus edition. Or, you can try the trial edition for 30 days.

Detailed steps about how to back up the system

1. Run AOMEI Backupper, click “Backup” in the left tab, and then select “System Backup”.

2. It will detect and list system partitions as source automatically. Then, please click the destination box to select a destination path.

Tips:

• You can click the "Task Name" field to rename the backup.
• You can select your local path (internal/external drive), DVD, or NAS/Share folder as the backup destination.

3. Click “Start Backup” to run the system backup task. 

4. In addition to the aforementioned options, system backup offers additional features to further enhance functionality and convenience:

Options: There are various settings to enhance functionality and customization. These options include:

• Compression Level: Choose the desired compression level to optimize storage space usage while maintaining backup integrity.
• Encryption: Secure your backup by enabling encryption, which protects backup from unauthorized access.
• Splitting Image: Split large backup files into smaller segments for easier storage and compatibility with Different Storage Devices.
• Email Notification: Receive email notifications to stay informed about the status and completion of backup tasks, ensuring peace of mind and proactive monitoring.

Schedule Backup: Since systems and data are constantly changing, you can set up scheduled backups to automatically back up the system at specified intervals. You have the flexibility to choose from daily, weekly, or monthly backups. In the paid version, you can also utilize event triggers or initiate backups upon USB plug-in.

Backup Scheme: With backup schemes, you have the option to choose between incremental and differential backup methods. Incremental backup captures only the changes made since the last backup, while differential backup captures the changes since the last full backup. This flexibility allows you to efficiently manage backup storage. Additionally, the paid edition can automatically delete older backup images to free up disk space, ensuring optimal utilization.

5. When the backup is processing, you can click the underlined sentence to check the backup process in detail. 

Tips: You can click an icon in the lower-left corner to set to Shut down/Restart/Hibernate/Sleep PC after backup completion. 

6. When the backup is completed, you can click “Finish”. Then, you can see the backup task is created in Home Screen. After that, you can continue to back up the system and do backup management for the task. 

7. After the backup is completed, it generates an xxx.adi backup image file in the destination.  After completing the system backup, you can easily restore your system in the event of a system crash. For more details about restore steps, please access System Restore.

Notes:

• The System backup image file can’t be opened directly by Windows. And for system backup, it is only able to restore in partition level so it is unable to separately select single files/folders to restore. If you would like to view the contents of system backup or copy some files and folders in the system backup, you can use the"Explore Image" feature to mount the backup image as virtual drives. And then, you can view or copy some files/folders from the mounted virtual drives.

• For MBR disk, System Backup backs up the system reserved partition (“system” partition) and C: drive("boot" partition). For some environments, there is only C: drive as system partition, which includes “System” and “Boot” files.

• For GPT disk, System Backup backs up the EFI partition, C: drive, and system recovery partition.

• AOMEI Backupper will detect running system partitions only to do system backup. If the system doesn’t run, it can’t do the system backup.

• AOMEI Backupper currently doesn’t support backup for GPT dynamic system volumes.

Conclusion

By reading this guide, you will gain comprehensive knowledge about system backup and master the essential steps to perform system backup. Remember to consider factors such as backup frequency, storage capacity, and the retention period for your backups. Regularly test the restoration process to verify the integrity of your backups and make any necessary adjustments to your backup strategy.

If you have any questions or issues, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions section or seek relevant technical support. We wish you success in completing your system backup and safeguarding your data!