Prepare for disaster but hope it never happens. Roland Waddilove tries a handy backup solution
Only a small percentage of computer disk drives fail, and many people never encounter a problem, but just as you wouldn't drive a car without an insurance policy that will replace it in the event of a crash, you really shouldn't use a computer without a backup solution in place that can replace the contents if it crashes.
There are many backup programs, but one you may not have heard of is AOMEI Backupper. There are several versions, and the one on test is Backupper Professional. There is a free version that is surprisingly comprehensive, but the Pro edition has a few extras that make managing backup jobs easier.
The interface has clearly been designed to be simple and straightforward to use. There are no complicated options, features or menus, and you can be backing up a minute after installing it. There are tabs down the left-hand side, and selecting Backup lists the types you can perform in very simple language. File Backup enables files and folders to be selected, which is useful for making copies of the Documents, Pictures, Videos and Music folders, and any others you want to protect.
The second option is System Backup, subtitled One-click system drive backup. This backs up the PC's internal drive, and it really is one click. It automatically
selected the PC's disk as the source and a USB drive as the destination. One click set it going, and it was fast. CPU activity was minimal, but it ran the disks flat out, which made using the PC while backing up a bit slow, but the job finished quickly.
Three levels of compression are available to save space on the backup disk: backups can be split (to fit on CDs or DVDs, for example), just the used disk sectors or all sectors can be copied, the backup can be encrypted, and there are incremental and differential types that save only the changes since the previous backup. Backups can be scheduled, and the facilities are flexible, ranging from every hour to the first day of each month.
The restore facility enables you to restore all the files in the backup or just the ones you select. Existing files can be left alone or overwritten, and the location can be the same or a different one. In order to perform a full restore of the PC's internal disk, you must create a bootable CD or USB flash drive. As with all Backupper functions, it’s very easy. A couple of clicks turns a USB flash drive into a bootable device, and when the PC is started with it, Backupper runs automatically. It is identical to the one in Windows, so you can easily select a backup and restore it.
The main difference between the free and Pro versions is the backup management. Old backups can be automatically removed according to rules and multiple backups merged. This enables it to continually back up to the same disk without ever running out of space.
I love the freeware version, but the Pro edition costs £5 more than the excellent Paragon Backup & Recovery 15 Home, and I would prefer it to be cheaper. Roland Waddilove
An excellent backup utility that is easy to use and works well.