AOMEI Backupper Standard

AOMEI Backupper Standard is the free edition of AOMEI Technology’s Windows backup software. It makes image backups of a whole system disk, partitions or folders and restores them from a bootable rescue drive when Windows will not start. If you are after an AOMEI Backupper download for a home PC, a lab machine or a small office, Standard 8.4.0 is current, and it runs on Windows 11, 10, 8.1, 8 and 7.

Be clear about what “free” covers. The Standard licence allows use at home and in business environments, but only without commercial advantage or payment. Several features that admins expect, such as system clone, differential backups, retention schemes, encryption and a command line, are reserved for the paid Professional, Workstation, Server and Technician editions.

AOMEI Backupper Standard at a glance

What it does

• System, disk, partition and file/folder backup to image files, with full and incremental backups.
• Scheduling (daily, weekly, monthly), event triggers and USB plug-in backup.
• Destinations: internal and external disks, USB drives, NAS and network shares, and AOMEI’s own cloud.
• Restore of a whole system, disk, partition or individual files from an image, plus image integrity checks.
• Bootable rescue media (WinPE-based) on USB, CD/DVD or ISO for bare-metal recovery.
• Basic disk and partition clone (data disks; system clone is a paid feature).
• Basic scheduled file sync, compression, image splitting and email notifications.
• Version 8.4.0 can reset the Windows SID during system clone or restore and shows transfer speed and time remaining while a task runs.

How sysadmins use it

Image a PC before a risky change

1. Open the program and go to Backup > System Backup. The system and boot partitions are selected automatically.
2. Choose a destination on another physical disk or a NAS share (Add Share or NAS Devices).
3. Click Start Backup and wait for the image to finish. Use the Check Image tool to verify it.
4. Make the change: a feature update, driver rollout or disk encryption.

Create rescue media and restore a dead machine

1. On a working PC, go to Tools > Create Bootable Media, choose Windows PE and write it to a USB stick or ISO.
2. Boot the failed machine from the USB drive. AOMEI Backupper starts inside WinPE.
3. Go to Restore > Select Image File, browse to the image on a USB disk or network share, and restore it to the original disk.
4. Restoring to different hardware (Universal Restore) needs a paid edition.

Nightly file backup to a NAS

1. Backup > File Backup, add the data folders and pick the NAS share as the destination.
2. Under Schedule Backup, set a daily time. The free edition runs incremental backups after the first full one.
3. Watch disk space. Automatic cleanup of old versions (backup schemes) is a paid feature, so prune old images yourself or start a new full chain periodically.

Install and first run

• Windows only. Install with administrator rights. Standard is the free edition; the paid editions are separate licences with the same interface.
• Supported file systems: NTFS, FAT32, FAT16 and EXT2/EXT3 partitions, on HDD, SSD, USB, NAS and hardware RAID.
• Rescue media: the WinPE environment is built from components on your PC, so create the media on a healthy machine of the same Windows generation. Test boot the USB stick once, before you need it, and check the firmware boot order on UEFI machines.
• Network destinations: use an account with write rights on the share, and mind SMB version support on older NAS devices.
• Upsell prompts: the interface shows paid features and upgrade offers. They are greyed out in Standard, so do not expect them to work.

Limitations

• Windows only; no macOS or Linux agent and no Windows Server support in Standard (Server edition is paid).
• The EULA limits free use to non-commercial purposes. Using it on client machines as a paid service needs the Technician editions.
• No differential backups, backup schemes, encryption, real-time or mirror sync, dynamic disks, dissimilar-hardware restore or command-line interface in the free edition.
• System clone (migrating Windows to a new SSD) is not included in Standard.
• Images use AOMEI’s own format, so you need AOMEI software to restore them.

AOMEI Backupper Standard vs alternatives

Cobian Backup (Cobian Reflector) is a free file-level backup scheduler with encryption and full, incremental and differential modes. It has no disk imaging, and its developer announced the 2024 release as the last update. FreeFileSync is a free, actively developed folder sync tool with versioning, but it copies files rather than imaging disks. For system images with bare-metal restore on Windows, AOMEI Backupper Standard is the most complete free option among these.

FAQ

Is AOMEI Backupper Standard free?

Yes, Standard is free under AOMEI’s EULA for use without commercial gain. Professional and higher editions are paid and unlock the advanced features.

What is the difference between AOMEI Backupper Standard and Professional?

Professional adds system clone, differential backups, backup schemes with automatic cleanup, encryption, real-time and mirror sync, dynamic disk support, dissimilar-hardware restore and command-line tools.

Can AOMEI Backupper clone to an SSD for free?

Standard can clone data disks and partitions. Migrating the Windows system disk with System Clone requires a paid edition.

Is AOMEI Backupper safe?

It is a long-established commercial product. Always verify images with the built-in check and test your rescue media before you rely on them.

Is there AOMEI Backupper for Mac or Linux?

No, it is Windows only. It can back up EXT2/EXT3 partitions on a Windows machine, but there is no native macOS or Linux version.

How do I restore a system image with AOMEI Backupper?

Boot from the AOMEI rescue USB, open Restore > Select Image File, choose the image and restore it to the original disk.

Does AOMEI Backupper Standard work on Windows Server?

No. Windows Server needs the paid AOMEI Backupper Server or Technician editions.

Last checked against official sources: 30 September 2026 (developer website: ubackup.com). Versions and licence terms change — confirm on the developer's site before deploying in production.