Aomei Backupper Review: Easy Backups & Cloning For Windows!

I review Aomei Backupper which is a popular choice for backup software on Windows. I also explain how to set up a scheduled backup onto a NAS device and how to clone a system drive to a new SSD installed in a laptop.

Update: It seems a few features have been stripped from the free version after I made this video. I now recommend using Clonezilla or Rescuezilla for cloning drives. I'm planning to make a video showing how to use these in several weeks.

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Chapters
00:00 Introduction
01:09 Download and installation
01:31 First impressions
01:55 Scheduled backup
04:13 Restore Files
05:26 Cloning Windows drive
07:43 Outro

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Closed Caption:

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Hello, welcome to Phaser Tech. So, today
I'll be taking a look at Alme Backuper
and showing how to use a few of its
features. This is backup software
available for Windows, and it comes in a
few different versions, including a free
one that's geared towards home users
that are looking for simple but
effective backup software to keep their
data safe. The link to download it is in
the video description below, so I
encourage you to give it a try if you're
currently looking for backup software.
Now, there's lots of competition for
backup software on Windows, but ALME is
one of the more popular choices, so
let's give it a try to see how well it
actually works. I'll be testing two
features today. First, I'll be doing a
folder backup onto a network attached
storage, and then I'll be showing how to
clone a system drive onto a new SSD.
I'll be doing the cloning on this $60
laptop that I've made a few videos about
already. So, if you'd like to see those,
I'll leave a link up in the corner. All
right, let's get on with the review. I
recommend downloading the software from
the link in the video description below,
and it'll take you to this page here.
Simply hit download and install it.
You'll be presented with a screen to
purchase or try the pro version or click
skip to install the free version. Once
it's done, go ahead and run it. So, my
first impressions of the software are
good. The color theme is pleasing to
look at and the interface is simple to
navigate. The main features are clearly
labeled on the side. The home tab gives
shortcuts to your backup and sync jobs.
The other features we can see are
backup, sync, restore, clone, and tools.
Clicking on them expands the available
options. So, first I'm going to show how
to set up a scheduled folder backup that
will be saved to one of my network
drives. For this task, I'm going to
switch to my desktop and do a backup of
all my music production projects. If
you're a content creator like me, then
I'm sure you understand how important it
is to keep backups in case you mess up a
project or accidentally delete
something. Also, setting up an automatic
scheduled backup makes everything
worry-f free. So, to do this, first go
to backup and then click file backup.
Next, click add folder or add file and a
browser window will open where you can
select what you want to back up. I'll be
selecting my Reaper media folder where
my DAW projects are located. Next,
select the destination by clicking the
drop- down menu here. Then you'll be
given the choice of a local path, a
network attached storage device, or a
cloud drive. In my case, I'll be saving
it to a Samba shared drive. So, I'll
enter the computer's IP address here and
the drives path. Click the blue arrow
and select the folder to confirm.
Now, let's go to the options and
configure it. The default options are
fine here. If you need encryption,
you'll want to upgrade to the pro
version. You can also adjust the
compression settings here. And since I
have a fast system, I'll leave it on
high. Now, let's look at the schedule
settings. Here, you can set up specific
times when you want to create the
backups. I'm going to set up a daily
backup. Now go to backup scheme to
choose what sort of backup you want to
do. Incremental backups are more
efficient in terms of storage if you
plan to do scheduled backups. So I'm
going to select this one. I'm also going
to select automatic backup cleanups,
which will automatically delete old
backups that are no longer necessary.
Keep in mind this is a useful feature
that's only available in the pro
version. These settings look good, so
let's click okay. I recommend giving the
task a name so it's easier to manage in
the future in case you have multiple
tasks. Now we're ready to start the
backup. This might take a while
depending on the size of your folder.
Now that the backup is done, I'm going
to test it to see if I can properly
restore. I've deleted the files from my
local drive. So now I'll be restoring
them from the network drive I used as
the backup destination.
This is quite easy to do. First, just
click restore and then select the job
you want. If you've made different
backups, then they'll all appear here.
Click next and you'll be given an
opportunity to explore the backup. If
you set up a scheduled backup, then you
can select a specific date that you want
to restore from. The explorer allows you
to select certain folders or files from
the backup as well. But in this case, I
want to restore the entire folder. Now
you'll be given the chance to restore
the folder to the destination of your
choice. I'll select its original
location and now start it.
Now that it's done, let's see if it
actually backed up all the data. I'll
check the size of the folder to verify.
And it looks good. It's over 10 gigs,
which is the correct size. You can also
go to tools and click explore image if
you just want to view the files and
folders without starting a restore. Now
let's try out the cloning and imaging
features on a laptop. I'll be cloning
from the laptop's built-in 64 gig
storage and the destination will be the
256 gig SSD I've just installed. First
click clone on the left hand side.
You'll be presented with a few options.
System clone and disc clone are
essentially the same thing, but system
clone automatically selects the current
boot disc as source, so it's slightly
easier. I'll be selecting disc clone
because this is also included in the
free version. Now, select the source
drive, which in my case is the 64 gig
flash drive, and then select the
destination drive. Be careful to select
the correct destination because if you
select the wrong one, it will be erased.
Now, on this screen, notice the setting
on the bottom called SSD alignment.
You'll want to select this if you're
cloning to an SSD. If your target disc
is larger than the source, you'll want
to also go to edit partitions and select
add unused space to all partitions in
order to use that extra space.
Unfortunately, this feature is only
available in the pro version. So, if
you're using the free version, then your
clone drive will be the same size as the
original drive, unless you go through
the extra steps of manually resizing it.
I think this is a feature that could
have been included in the free version.
But anyway, let's continue and finish
the cloning process. If you see this
message, go ahead and press yes. It'll
take a while to complete, but when it
does, go ahead and restart the system
and enter the BIOS. Normally, you can
get into the BIOS by tapping the delete
key on the boot screen, but it might
vary depending on the motherboard. Once
you're in the BIOS, navigate to the boot
section and change the first boot
option. You should see two Windows boot
manager entries, so select the one that
corresponds to the new drive. The menus
and options might look slightly
different depending on your motherboard,
but they should be similar enough you
can figure it out. Now save and restart.
And when your system boots up, it should
be running from the new drive. Well,
that's all for today. Overall, I found
Alme Backuper to be very effective and
simple to use, and I'd recommend it both
for casual home users and also
businesses and professionals who could
use the advanced syncing and backup
options. Hopefully, this review was
helpful for those thinking about trying
it or wanted to learn how to use it. If
you enjoyed this video, please like and
subscribe to help my channel grow. As
always, thanks for watching and I'll see
you next time.
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Heat. Heat.
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