AOMEI Backupper Help Guides

Sometimes our files can be lost due to virus attacks, ransomware intrusion, disk corruption, accidental deletion, etc. Therefore, it is important to make backups of your files from time to time.

In AOMEI Backupper's file and folder backup feature, Files and folders backup can be backed up to an image file for convenient storage of your data.

This feature is very useful to secure your data. With this feature, you can easily recover files and folders in case of files and folders loss.

Create Files and Folders Backup in Windows 10 Step by Step

Prerequisites for File Backup: 

• The files/folders you want to back up. 
• A target drive (with enough free space) that you can save backup image to. A local path and Share/NAS devices are supported.
• Download and install AOMEI Backupper on the computer. The basic system backup is a free feature, you can download and use the freeware on the computer. 

But, if you want to back up windows server system, you need to purchase server or tech plus edition. Or, you can try the trial edition for 30 days.

Step 1: Initiate File Backup

In the left tab page, select Backup and then select File Backup.

You can name it for "Task Name" box to help you distinguish it from other backups.

Step 2: Add File/Folder as Source

Click "Select Source" and then select either "Add Folder" or "Add File" so you can select folders/files you want to back up. (You can add multiple folders and files as the source.)

About File Filter Settings

The paid version of Aomei Backupper can help you back up files with file extension.

You can click the "Options" button to open the "Filter" settings so that you can set up a file inclusion/exclusion mask. 

     1) The File Inclusion Mask can specify the files that you need to back up. Wildcards are supported and separate multiple masks with a semi-colon(*.doc;*.xls;*.ppt ).

     With this mask, you can configure, including backup according to file extensions, such as .doc, .xls, .ppt, and so on. So, only files with the same extensions will be backed up to the target path.

     For example, you would like to only back up .doc files in the selected source folders. You can just configure "*.doc" in the mask. (If you would like to include more extensions, please separate the formats with semi-colons).

     2) The File Exclusion Mask specifies the files that you need to exclude. Wildcards are supported and separate multiple masks with a semi-colon(*.temp;*.tmp;*.bak).

     With this mask, you can configure to exclude according to file extensions, such as .temp, .tmp, .bak, and so on. As a result, all files with the same extensions will not be backed up to the destination location.

     For example, you would like to only exclude .temp files in the selected source folders. You can just configure "*.temp" in the mask. (If you would like to include more extensions, please separate the formats with semi-colons).

     3) The Folder Exclusion Mask specifies the folders that you need to exclude. Wildcards are supported and separate multiple masks with a semi-colon (A;B).

     With this mask, you can configure it to exclude folders with the same name. Therefore, all folders with the same name will not be backed up to the destination location.

     For example, you would like to only exclude folder "A" in the selected source folders. You can just configure "A" in the mask. (If you would like to include more folder names, please separate the names with semi-colons.)

Please check the 3 filter example settings below:

You can also tick the bottom three boxes as you need. After the "Filter settings" option is set, please click "OK".

Other Settings (Optional)

In addition to the aforementioned options, there areadditional features to further enhance functionality and convenience:

Schedule: Since systems and data are constantly changing, you can set up scheduled backups to automatically back up the system at specified intervals. You have the flexibility to choose from daily, weekly, or monthly backups. In the paid version, you can also utilize event triggers or initiate backups upon USB plug-in.

Backup Scheme: With backup schemes, you have the option to choose between incremental and differential backup methods. Incremental backup captures only the changes made since the last backup, while differential backup captures the changes since the last full backup. This flexibility allows you to efficiently manage backup storage. Additionally, the paid edition can automatically delete older backup images to free up disk space, ensuring optimal utilization.

Options: There are various settings to enhance functionality and customization. These options include:

• Automatically create a folder with the same name as the task in the target location: Ticked by default. So, it will create a folder with the task name under the target path to save backup image files. For example, if you create a backup task named Disk Backup, it will first create a "Disk Backup" folder under the target drive you selected and then save backup images.
• Encryption: Secure your backup by enabling encryption, which protects the backup from unauthorized access.
• Notification: Receive email notifications to stay informed about the status and completion of backup tasks, ensuring peace of mind and proactive monitoring.
• Command: Enable Pre-command or Post-command to run the specified program or script before or after backup.
• Compression: Choose the desired compression level to optimize storage space usage while maintaining backup integrity.
• Splitting Image: Split large backup files into smaller segments for easier storage and compatibility with Different Storage Devices.
• Operation Priority: Set an operation priority for the backup. The higher the priority issue, the faster the backup will be executed.

Step 3: Select Destination Path

Supported destinations include: local drives (internal/external), network-attached storage (NAS), network share, and AOMEI Cloud (only for file/folder backup).

Select a location as the destination path to store the image file. If available, select a destination storage medium that is different from the source medium that contains the original files to ensure that you can restore your files/folders if your source storage medium cannot be used anymore. 

Step 4: Start Backup

Finally, click the Start Backup button and wait for the process to complete.

Tips:

• While a backup is running, you can click an icon in the lower-left corner to set to Shut down/Restart/Hibernate/Sleep PC after backup completion. Please tick the box and then click "OK".

Step 5: View Backup Process

When the backup is running, you can also view the backup process.

After it is finished, you can click the underlined sentence to check the backup process details.

Then please kindly wait for the backup process to complete, and then click the "OK" button.

Step 6: Backup Result

As a result, you can check that there is a backup image (.afi) generated in the destination location.

For more detailed info about how File Backup works, please refer to How to Do Files and Folders Backup.

Notes: 

• If you would like to restore a file backup image, please use the feature "File Restore".
• If you would like to view the contents of a file backup without restoring a backup image, you can use the feature "Explore Image" to mount the image.
• For more advanced options of the current backup task, please refer to Backup Options, Schedule Backup, and Backup Scheme.

• In order to avoid backing up temporary files, garbage files, and other useless data, we suggest you perform data cleanup first and back up later.

• Backupper can back up NTFS files along with their security permissions automatically, and also supports restoring each file's security permissions together with the file.

• Some files may be in use by other programs exclusively; the program will prompt to skip them if this is the case.

• Some files don't have system permission (you can check permissions under properties of files/folders), the program will prompt to skip them if this is the case.

• If there are many backup sources that need to be backed up, please put them in one folder. After that, selecting that folder to back up will back up all subfolders therein.

• Files and folders in the Recycle Bin cannot be backed up.

• AOMEI Backupper can effectively back up files like NTFS compressed files or EFS encrypted files, but the files will no longer have NTFS properties after restoration.

Conclusion

In summary, file backup plays a crucial role in protecting data security, disaster recovery, data migration, and sharing. It is applicable to both individual users and businesses. Whether it is personal files or critical business data, regular backups are necessary measures to ensure data integrity and continuity.

FAQs

Q: Why do I fail to make a file backup with error code 4102?

A: Please check the items below:

1) If you get this error when performing a backup with the “Check Image” option selected, please do not worry. Because the error is not related to backup, so backup is completed. The error is shown during the checking image process, so you can separately check the image file through the steps here.

2) If the backup image is stored on NAS or removable devices, the connection might be broken before reading the image file. To fix this, you can copy the image file to the local disk.

3) If the backup image is stored on a local disk, it indicates that some programs may have prevented Backupper from reading the image file. In this case, you can close these programs and try again. If you cannot find the programs, you can make a bootable medium to do the backup again.

Q: The file backup is set up to filter files, but why is the filter not successful?

A: Please check that the filter rules are set up correctly, e.g., that the correct suffix name is entered.

Q: Why does the file backup process pop-up indicate that the file is occupied?