Solved AOMEI Backupper (Free Standard Edition) Review

Dch48 said:

Something's wrong. I can backup my 600GB on my system drive in under an hour with AOMEI. I don't ever do the check. I always do full backups. I have never even tried the incremental thing.

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Possibly my AOMEI program got corrupted, my first backup with AOMEI also took less than an hour (120 GB) but not sure if it backed up only a volume or the whole disk. I prefer EaseUS Todo (free) that consistently backs up in 20 minutes, 40 minutes to check the backup file (see attached), and restores perfectly in less than 1 hour to a virtual drive that boots (no issues, no hassle with the setup, very reliable). I uninstalled AOMEI (but left remnants in the registry that I ignore).

Bree said:

You can literally put it anywhere that is convenient. I have two machines that dual boot with the 2nd OS in a .vhdx file. One has it on the root of the C: drive, the other is the root of a separate D: data partition.

View attachment 36497

There are just a couple of restrictions. To native boot a .vhdx It has to be on a permanently installed drive, a removable external usb dive will not do.

If you create the .vhdx file as dynamically expanding, then you must have enough free space on the drive holding it for it to potentially expand to it's maximum size. If not it will fail to boot. To avoid having to keep too much unused free space on the partition holding the vhdx, when you create it make it no larger than required. Or just make it a fixed size.

Create and Set Up New VHD or VHDX File in Windows 10

How to Create and Set Up New VHD or VHDX File in Windows 10

www.tenforums.com

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Oh dear @Bree !!!!!!!

Native vhdx boot has been possible on external USB devices for several releases already !!!! Obviously to BOOT from the external USB drive it must be plugged in !!!!. So long as you create the efi file on the USB drive and install the correct bootloader for the windows system residing on the vhdx file it works perfectly. You simply select the external USB at boot and then you'll get the standard Windows blue boot choice menu. The internal HDD then isn't looked at at boot. For standard Windows boot windows will just boot normally using the boot manager on the efi file on the internal drive.

The trick is to have an efi file on any physical HDD you want to boot from. It's messy but you can also work with a single boot loader which will give you a choice of all the systems on both external and internal HD

IMO it's simpler and easier to keep the external and internal disks separate for this process --i.e use 2 efi files and at boot select whether you want to boot from the usb device or the internal one.

I have a 1TB external SSD which I use as a portable win2go system with 5 different Windows systems. I use this on my Linux laptop whose internal HDD is 100% Linux based.

Cheers
jimbo

jimbo45 said:

Native vhdx boot has been possible on external USB devices for several releases already !!!!

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Thanks, I stand corrected then. Good to know....

FrankW said:

Possibly my AOMEI program got corrupted, my first backup with AOMEI also took less than an hour (120 GB) but not sure if it backed up only a volume or the whole disk. I prefer EaseUS Todo (free) that consistently backs up in 20 minutes, 40 minutes to check the backup file (see attached), and restores perfectly in less than 1 hour to a virtual drive that boots (no issues, no hassle with the setup, very reliable). I uninstalled AOMEI (but left remnants in the registry that I ignore).

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The EaseUS program is very good. I use it sometimes.

Dch48 said:

The EaseUS program is very good. I use it sometimes.

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I read about the file extension easustodo (or something like that) may cause file explorer to hang in a search, but don't believe it. EaseUS is straight forward and proved reliable (restored and booted a virtual drive). I need to use the magnifier app as the Todo font is too small on a 16" screen.

You folks should check out Hasleo Backup Suite and it's free. It's fast and reliable.

Badger said:

You folks should check out Hasleo Backup Suite and it's free. It's fast and reliable.

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I've been using/testing the Free Hasleo Backup Suite for a few weeks and it does everything I need and has been totally reliable so far. For me, one 'advantage' over the other options frequently mentioned is that it is fully freeware, i.e. all of the menu options offered are useable with no restrictions or prompts to upgrade to a 'Pro version'.

LeLibran said:

I've been using/testing the Free Hasleo Backup Suite for a few weeks and it does everything I need and has been totally reliable so far. For me, one 'advantage' over the other options frequently mentioned is that it is fully freeware, i.e. all of the menu options offered are useable with no restrictions or prompts to upgrade to a 'Pro version'.

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I really like it.

Badger said:

You folks should check out Hasleo Backup Suite and it's free. It's fast and reliable.

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The statement "it is reliable" is a very contentious one. How many people have used it, on how much differing hardware etc.

The key reason people here strongly recommend Macrium Reflect is it has a strong track record of being reliable.

I have used it on lots of devices for many years now, and it has never let me down, and that is echoed by many user comments.

Aomei is fine but too limited for my requirements.

There are lots of imaging tools out there, but I believe a proven track record of reliability is important.

There will always be cases where any tool fails (e.g. VSS issues) and in most cases, it is something wrong with users pc rather than the tool itself.

LeLibran said:

I've been using/testing the Free Hasleo Backup Suite for a few weeks and it does everything I need and has been totally reliable so far. For me, one 'advantage' over the other options frequently mentioned is that it is fully freeware, i.e. all of the menu options offered are useable with no restrictions or prompts to upgrade to a 'Pro version'.

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Looking at website, I do not see much difference over AOMEI or Todo.

The only feature I saw that was somewhat interesting was the "universal restore" but no details given. I take that to be similar to Macrium Redeploy, but tbh with W10/11 I have not had to use that feature in years.

This too seems to fall in same trap as Aomei and Todo in that it differentiates system backups to partition backups. That approach is ok for beginners but for more advanced users, it leads to restrictive restore options. I will check this out.

I rather dispute the point about pro features point - the features in Macrium Reflect are worth paying for , in particular Rapid Delta Restore/Cloning, Macrium Image Guardian etc. The free version does not nag you to upgrade (unless you used trial version, and even then you are only nagged once).

You're entitled to your advertisement of Macrium Reflect, but that doesn't change the fact the Hasleo Backup Suite has performed reliably on a number of occasions for me. If it fails for someone I'm sure we'll hear about it. So my advice is for those who might be interested to give it a try.

I have looked at it. Seems ok. Alternative to Macrium and Aomei Backupper - Free editions


I prefer to use a more flexible format such as .wim, but each to their own.

Badger said:

You're entitled to your advertisement of Macrium Reflect, but that doesn't change the fact the Hasleo Backup Suite has performed reliably on a number of occasions for me. If it fails for someone I'm sure we'll hear about it. So my advice is for those who might be interested to give it a try.

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You are advertising LOL.

At least mine is based on my long experience and other users here.

I did say I would try it.

SIW2 said:

I have looked at it. Seems ok. Alternative to Macrium and Aomei Backupper - Free editions


I prefer to use a more flexible format such as .wim, but each to their own.

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Whatever floats your boat. The important thing is to just perform backups!

Badger said:

Whatever floats your boat. The important thing is to just perform backups!

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Agreed but you must have confidence in tool as well and that takes time to develop. A good plan is to use two independent tools of course but I admit I rarely do that.

This software is heavenly made! a total winner! speed-reliability-done i love it!

Badger said:

You're entitled to your advertisement of Macrium Reflect, but that doesn't change the fact the Hasleo Backup Suite has performed reliably on a number of occasions for me. If it fails for someone I'm sure we'll hear about it. So my advice is for those who might be interested to give it a try.

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Advertisement? I don't think so! Cereberus was not paid to recommend Macrium Reflect, therefore, it's not an advertisement. However, if he had been paid for his statement about Macrium Reflect (which is highly unlikely), that would have been an advertisement.

In case you missed it, take a gander at this "best backup app" poll here on Eleven Forum . . . Poll on Backup software

Out of 214 folks voting, Macrium Reflect received 137 votes (64%). The next highest is Aomei Backupper which received 30 votes (14%).

If you want to say @cereberus was advertising, you have to admit to advertising as well, since you recommended Hasleo. In fact in the above mentioned poll, I don't see Hasleo mentioned at all unless it is included in Other. Not to say it doesn't work . . .

The bottom line is that Macrium Reflect is and probably always will be the most popular backup and restore program available for Windows, no matter which version.

Disclaimer: Just in case . . . I do not work for Macrium and do not get paid to recommend Macrium Reflect.

"Best" is highly subjective, so I take limited notice of user polls especially as, in general, people only vote for/stay with something they are familiar with and happy to use; and often have little knowledge/experience of the extended use of many other products. Polls and "Best of" Reviews are also 'historic' and generally exclude any products not available/known about when the poll/review took place.

People in general don't like change so a different interface/lack of familiarity attracts a lot of negativity as we all know!

In the end there is a range of alternatives and users need to be made aware of what's available not steered towards one product. Macrium Reflect is currently a good choice for many users; and I do also use it on a couple of PCs, but there are other options that may do just as good a job for many users. My own earlier comment about the Hasleo product was simply that I have found it to be reliable over a period of time and in many situations it will do precisely what I want. It also comes from a developer that has been around for years and has a range of freeware and commercial products, so certainly deserves consideration alongside other options from familiar providers, but so do other options.

LeLibran said:

"Best" is highly subjective, so I take limited notice of user polls especially as, in general, people only vote for/stay with something they are familiar with and happy to use; and often have little knowledge/experience of the extended use of many other products. Polls and "Best of" Reviews are also 'historic' and generally exclude any products not available/known about when the poll/review took place.

People in general don't like change so a different interface/lack of familiarity attracts a lot of negativity as we all know!

In the end there is a range of alternatives and users need to be made aware of what's available not steered towards one product. Macrium Reflect is currently a good choice for many users; and I do also use it on a couple of PCs, but there are other options that may do just as good a job for many users. My own earlier comment about the Hasleo product was simply that I have found it to be reliable over a period of time and in many situations it will do precisely what I want. It also comes from a developer that has been around for years and has a range of freeware and commercial products, so certainly deserves consideration alongside other options from familiar providers, but so do other options.

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214 people voting on a forum this size is a pretty high vote.

Often polls have less than say 10-20 votes and are statistically insignificant.

As a very rough rule of thumb, 200 responses will provide fairly good survey accuracy under most assumptions and parameters of a survey project. 100 responses are probably needed even for marginally acceptable accuracy.

Some say lower than 100, some say higher than 500, others say a percentage.

For a forum this size, 214 votes is pretty high and the conclusion that 2/3rds of users here prefer Reflect is adequate to demonstrate a reasonable trend with a reasonable degree of certainty.

One can argue to the end of the earth about this, but we have had two polls and answer was pretty much the same in both cases. If it was random, there would have been a bigger variation.

In the end, the most important thing is that users are making backups.

LeLibran said:

"Best" is highly subjective, so I take limited notice of user polls especially as, in general, people only vote for/stay with something they are familiar with and happy to use; and often have little knowledge/experience of the extended use of many other products. Polls and "Best of" Reviews are also 'historic' and generally exclude any products not available/known about when the poll/review took place.

People in general don't like change so a different interface/lack of familiarity attracts a lot of negativity as we all know!

In the end there is a range of alternatives and users need to be made aware of what's available not steered towards one product. Macrium Reflect is currently a good choice for many users; and I do also use it on a couple of PCs, but there are other options that may do just as good a job for many users. My own earlier comment about the Hasleo product was simply that I have found it to be reliable over a period of time and in many situations it will do precisely what I want. It also comes from a developer that has been around for years and has a range of freeware and commercial products, so certainly deserves consideration alongside other options from familiar providers, but so do other options.

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Agreed. Regardless of how many votes are cast in favor of a certain product vs others, its the familiarity and experience with a given product that ultimately sways the votes. Unless all the voters tried all the alternatives with equal time and user experience, the votes dont carry much weight imo.

There may be a few admins and IT specialists among the voters who may have more experience than others, but it may not count much for the regular user with simple needs and backup requirements. A failed restore might affect these admins and IT specialists with downtime so they tend to view things from a more critical perspective.

For me image backups are just a small peace-of-mind convenience to protect against system non-functionality. But I've come to realize I would not be much affected anyway since I dual boot and have a spare PC which allows me to resume my work almost instantly.. All valuable (non-system) data is backed up separately from image backups. Image backups are only to help prevent the rare occurrence of my having to do a fresh OS install.

blued said:

Agreed. Regardless of how many votes are cast in favor of a certain product vs others, its the familiarity and experience with a given product that ultimately sways the votes. Unless all the voters tried all the alternatives with equal time and user experience, the votes dont carry much weight imo.

There may be a few admins and IT specialists among the voters who may have more experience than others, but it may not count much for the regular user with simple needs and backup requirements. A failed restore might affect these admins and IT specialists with downtime so they tend to view things from a more critical perspective.

For me image backups are just a small peace-of-mind convenience to protect against system non-functionality. But I've come to realize I would not be much affected anyway since I dual boot and have a spare PC which allows me to resume my work almost instantly.. All valuable (non-system) data is backed up separately from image backups. Image backups are only to help prevent the rare occurrence of my having to do a fresh OS install.

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You are a new poster. The vast majority of members in this forum are enthusiastic amateurs from all walks of life and most also participated in the sister forums - particularly www.tenforums.com often with multiple hundreds or even thousands of posts.

I can assure you many here have tried alternatives - there was a recent giveaway of 100 free pro licences of Easeus Todo before the poll, and you would imagine that would have swayed the vote to some degree.

I can assure you that poll does reflect users feelings and is not a case of "following the sheep" as you rather imply. Please give the users here credit for intelligence.