AOMEI Backupper Standard (formerly known as AOMEI Data Backuper) is a simple tool for backing up files, partitions, hard drives or your system.
The program's straightforward interface will be immediately familiar if you've ever used another backup tool. To get started you might click the "Backup" tab, for instance, then "Disk Backup". After choosing the drive to back up, you're able to set a good range of options (compression level, encryption, splitting, email notifications, VSS support and so on), and can then save any data to your destination of choice in just a click or two.
This version adds support for backing up selected files and folders. These are more difficult to select than in other backup programs, because Backupper Standard doesn't have its own file viewer: instead, you must choose files or folders by selecting them in regular Windows File > Open dialogs. This won't matter if you're only looking to back up one or two folder trees, say, but could be an issue for more complex backups.
Unlike the first edition, a flexible scheduler is able to run your backups when required: daily, at fixed intervals, on specific days of the week (Tuesdays and Fridays, say), on a certain day of the month (either numeric - "the 10th" - or more intelligently "the third Friday"). In all cases you can choose to run full, incremental or differential backups, and your backup is launched by Windows Task Scheduler so reliability should be good.
Backup images may be mounted as virtual drives at some later date, if you want to restore just an individual file or two. You can also restore an entire image from the program's Restore option, and it's possible to create a bootable rescue disc (Linux or Windows PE) if you need to restore the system drive.
And AOMEI has even found space for one or two bonus utilities, so for instance the program can clone individual partitions or entire hard drives in just a few clicks - the latter requires unlocking by sharing a social media post.
The previous version added file and folder backups, partition alignment to optimize SSDs, GPT/ UEFI/ EFI boot support, email notifications, viewing backup logs, and more.
Verdict:
Selecting files and folders is a little awkward, but overall AOMEI Backupper Standard is a big improvement on the previous edition, and it's becoming an excellent free backup tool.
Your Comments & Opinion
A quick and easy way to create image-based backups
Quickly create accurate, reliable backup images of your hard drive
Get comprehensive backup and security in one product from Acronis
Write images to/ from USB drives, SD/CF cards
Quick and easy create image and file backups
Keep files synchronised between drives, computers and servers
A cross-platform backup and synchronisation utility that's packed with features
A cross-platform backup and synchronisation utility that's packed with features
Backup your most important files & preferences using this free tool