AOMEI Backupper: Choose Backup or Clone and Make Your First System Backup

Official AOMEI illustration: Backup → System Backup. The installed edition and version may show different options. Select the image to enlarge.

Start with the outcome: use a backup image for recovery points; use a clone when moving Windows or a disk to another drive. Restoring an image is a separate operation that writes data back to a selected destination.

Choose the right task

• System Backup: images the running Windows system and its required boot partitions. Files on separate data volumes may need their own backup task.
• Disk Clone: copies a disk to another disk. System Clone copies Windows and its required partitions, rather than every separate data partition.
• Restore: returns an existing image to a destination. System, disk and partition restore can overwrite that destination.

Create the first system backup

1. Confirm your exact Backupper edition, version and Windows environment. Windows Server needs an appropriate Server-capable edition; do not assume a PC licence covers it.
2. Open Backup → System Backup. Review the automatically selected system partitions.
3. Choose the intended destination with enough free space. Check the path yourself rather than accepting a default drive without review. Keep recovery copies separate from the source disk where practical.
4. Name the task, review any schedule and retention choices, then select Start Backup. Feature availability varies by edition.
5. Review the completion result and log. Use Tools → Check Image to validate the required backup point.

Check that you can recover

A successful image check is useful, but it is not a complete recovery rehearsal. Confirm that rescue media can see the image and storage, and plan a controlled restore test. Preserve any password needed to open an encrypted image through your organisation's approved process.

Need help? Send our Specialist the product/edition, version, Windows version, task type, destination type and exact error. Do not send licence keys, passwords or unredacted confidential files.

Official references: Backup and clone · System Backup · Check Image