AOMEI Backupper: Create and Test Rescue Media Before You Need It

Official AOMEI illustration: Tools → Create Bootable Media. Review the selected USB carefully. Select the image to enlarge.

WinPE rescue media lets a compatible PC start AOMEI Backupper when Windows will not boot. It does not contain your backup automatically: keep a suitable backup image separately and confirm that the recovery environment can reach it.

Prepare the media

1. Use an authorised working Windows PC with the appropriate Backupper version. Connect a spare empty USB stick or other supported media. Back up anything on the selected device before creating it.
2. Open Tools → Create Bootable Media and follow the Windows PE workflow. Carefully identify the intended USB device or choose an ISO output.
3. Follow the current environment/download prompts. If storage or networking needs additional drivers, use the vendor's Add Driver option with the correct driver files.
4. Finish creation and label the media with its purpose and preparation date. Keep it available with the recovery instructions.

Test without starting a restore

Arrange a maintenance window and follow the computer manufacturer's boot-menu instructions. Start from the rescue media and check that Backupper opens, the intended internal disks are visible, and the external or network backup location is accessible. A successful boot alone does not prove the recovery path is ready. Exit without starting a restore, remove the media and return to normal Windows startup.

Before a real recovery

Confirm the correct computer, image, backup date and destination. Backupper System Restore requires a compatible AOMEI image; an unrelated Windows or third-party image is not interchangeable. Copy out newer essential files first: restoring a system/disk/partition image can overwrite the destination. Recovery to different hardware may require edition-specific functionality and a separate plan.

If a disk or network path is missing, stop and record the Backupper version, PC/storage model, boot mode and exact symptom. Send our Specialist a redacted screenshot. Do not initialise or format an unexpectedly missing disk.

Official references: Create bootable media · System Restore