AOMEI Backupper FAQs: Backup, Restore, Sync, Clone
General FAQs:
Q: Does AOMEI Backupper support backup, restore and clone dynamic volumes?
A: For MBR dynamic volumes, you can use System Backup and Partition Backup (System/Partition Clone) to back up dynamic volumes. Currently, Disk Backup/Disk Clone function doesn't support listing dynamic disks.
For GPT Dynamic Disk, Backupper currently doesn't support backing up or cloning GPT dynamic volumes. Maybe you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant to convert the GPT dynamic disk to a basic one, and then do backup or clone.
When restoring the backup of dynamic volumes, you can only restore to the original location or a basic disk. It can't restore to another dynamic disk.
Q: Does AOMEI Backupper support backing up/sync to third-party Cloud Storage, such as Onedrive, Dropbox, Google drive, and so on?
A: AOMEI Backupper can back up to the local cloud folder generated by the cloud desktop app. It can't directly save data to the online cloud space. So, you need to install the cloud desktop app on the computer that you do the backup. If it fails to detect the cloud app, please try to reinstall the cloud app. And, if it still can't detect the cloud app, you can try to manually browse and select the local cloud folder as the destination.
For Google Drive, Google has canceled the Backup and Sync app, so it doesn't create the local google folder. Our program now can't back up/sync to Google Drive. As for the G: drive mapped by Google, it actually is an entrance to access google online space. It doesn't create the local google drive folder. So, AOMEI Backupper can't back up/ sync to G: drive mapped by Google.
Q: Does AOMEI Backupper support backing up and restoring a system drive based on UEFI?
A: Yes, it completely supports backup and restore for the UEFI system drive.
Install/Uninstall/Register FAQs:
Q: You repeatedly get the message: "AOMEI Backupper has been installed in your computer. Do you want to uninstall it?" or "Setup has detected a restart required to perform the uninstall. Please restart and try again."
A: Please manually delete the related components of AOMEI Backupper to uninstall it completely, and then install it again. For the detailed steps, please refer to here.
Q: The error occurs during reinstalling AOMEI Backupper:
"An error occurred while trying to replace the existing file:
DeleteFile Failed; code 5.
Access is denied......".
A: Generally, you may click the "Ignore" button to skip this file and continue to reinstall. If the problem persists, please try to thoroughly uninstall the program and reinstall it. You can check more instructions here.
The error occurred during reinstalling AOMEI Backupper:
An error occurred while trying to rename a file in the destination directory:
Move File Failed: code 183:
Cannot create a file when that file already exists.
A: Generally, you may click the "Ignore" button to skip this file and continue to reinstall. If the problem persists, please try to thoroughly uninstall the program and reinstall it. You can check more instructions here.
When uninstalling the previous version, show the error:
File "C:\Program Files(x86)\AOMEI Backupper\uninsooo.dat” does not exist. Cannot uninstall.
A: Please try to thoroughly uninstall the program by manually deleting the related components. You can check more instructions here.
Backup FAQs:
Q: AOMEI Backupper shows the error when starting a backup or sync:
Failed to enable backup service. Please retry or reinstall the software…
A: Please uninstall and reinstall AOMEI Backupper, and then try to backup again. If it still shows the error, please check the following items:
1) Please check if you install AOMEI Backupper to a path containing a semicolon (;). The installation path that contains a semicolon will lead to AOMEI Backupper Service startup failure. In this situation, please reinstall AOMEI Backupper into a path without a semicolon.
2) Please check if ABservice.exe is not running under Windows Task Manager. Please manually start it in Windows Services: press Win+R, then run "services.msc" to open the Windows Services Manager; If the status of AOMEI Backupper Schedule Service is not running, please double-click it, then manually click “Start” and make sure startup type is Automatic.
3) Please check if ABCore.exe is not running under Windows Task Manager. Please find the ABCore.exe file under installation directory of AOMEI Backupper, then right-click and run it as an administrator.
4) Please add ABCore.exe or the whole "AOMEI Backupper" directory to the whitelist of the anti-virus aplications. Or, please temporarily close anti-virus applications during backup.
5) If you enable Ransomware Protection in Windows Defender, please add "AOMEI Backupper" as an allowed app, or close Ransomware Protection.
Click here to learn more details.
Q: AOMEI Backupper shows the error when starting a backup or sync:
Failed to initialize RPC service. Please retry or reinstall the software and try again...
A: Please first try to uninstall and reinstall Backupper and then recreate a new backup task to check if it works. And, please temporarily close the anti-virus program and firewall during backup.
If you enable Ransomware Protection in Windows Defender, please add "AOMEI Backupper" as an allowed app, or close Ransomware Protection.
Q: When you do the system backup, it shows:
The program did not find the system partition. Please reboot the system and try again.
A: System Backup will detect the system partitions as source automatically. But, it failed to find the system partition. In this situation, please check if the system disk failed to be listed. You can click Disk Clone, and then the disk list to see if it lists the system disk.
If it doesn't list your disks, please check:
1. Please check if the system disk is 4096 bytes/sector. You can press Win+R, type “msinfo32” in the Run box, then open Components-->Storage-->Disks-->check the Bytes/sector of the drive. AOMEI Backupper currently can't list 4096 disk. So, it can't back up for 4096 disk.
2. If the disk is 512 bytes/sector, but it also failed to be listed, please try to uninstall AOMEI Backupper, and reboot computer, and then reinstall it again to check.
3. If you are using WinPE environment of AOMEI Backupper, it might be that the WinPE lack of the drives of disk. So, WinPE can't read the disk. You might need to recreate the WinPE and manually add the drivers.
If AOMEI Backupper can list the system disk, but the system partitions failed to be read correctly (display them blank), it might be that some other applications are protecting the system partition from being read by other software. Currently, we found that RollBack Rx, Reboot Restore Rx and Drive Cloner Rx software will protect system partitions, and make AOMEI Backupper can't access system partitions. In this case, you might need to uninstall the software so that AOMEI Backupper can do the system backup.
For more details, please refer to here.
Q: AOMEI Backupper failed to list disks when you do the disk backup or disk clone.
A: Please check the following items:
1. Please make sure the disk is listed correctly under Windows Disk Management.
2. Please check the type of this drive. Backupper doesn’t support eMMC storage device. Usually, most of tablet PC use the emmc storage device.
3. Please check whether or not the disk is 4096 bytes per sector. You can press Win+R, type “msinfo32” in the Run box, then open Components-->Storage-->Disks-->check the Bytes/sector of the drive. AOMEI Backupper doesn’t support backing up/cloning 4096 disk. But, you can save the backup files to the 4096 drive.
4. Please check whether or not the disk is a dynamic disk. Backupper doesn’t support backing up/cloning dynamic disk by using Disk Backup/Disk Clone. Please use System or Partition Backup/Clone way to back up/clone dynamic volumes.
5. If you are using WinPE environment of AOMEI Backupper, it might be that the WinPE lack of the drives of disk. So, WinPE can't read the disk. You might need to recreate the WinPE and manually add the drivers.
For more details, please refer to here.
Q: When you do the system backup or system clone, it shows:
AOMEI Backupper currently doesn't support backing up or cloning dynamic system volume on GPT disk...
A: AOMEI Backupper currently doesn't support backing up or cloning dynamic system volume on GPT disk. We will add the feature in the future. In this situation, we suggest that you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant to convert the GPT dynamic disk to basic, and then you can continue to back up or clone the basic disk.
Q: When you set to perform a differential backup, but it prompts: The volume configuration has changed, so now is executing a full backup.
A: Please run the backup task again to check if it will start to perform the differential backup. If you still get the same situation, please try to contact our AOMEI Support Team and attach the log folder under the installation directory of AOMEI Backupper to further analyze this issue.
Q: Why cannot you run the backup task again when you back up to CD/DVD?
A: AOMEI Backupper doesn’t support continuing to create backups when the destination is CD/DVD.
Q: Why the scheduled backup doesn't run automatically?
A: 1. Please manually run the backup to confirm the backup task can run normally.
2. Please check if your computer is in sleep mode at the schedule time, and you don't set "Wake the computer to run scheduled tasks" under schedule settings.
3. Please try to modify the schedule time at your working time, and then you can observe whether the scheduled task can run automatically. If it can work, please modify the time to the original schedule time, and then check if it will work after.
4. If the above methods can't solve the problem, please contact our AOMEI Support Team and attach the log folder under the installation directory of the software so that we can further analyze the problem and help you find solutions.
Q: Why is the backup process stuck at 0%?
A: Please temporarily close the anti-virus applications, and then try to do the backup again. If it can work, please try to add AOMEI Backupper to the white list of your anti-virus applications, then continue to backups.
If the problem persists, please contact our AOMEI Support Team and attach the log folder under the installation directory of the software so that we can further analyze the problem and help you find solutions.
Q: Why the “Wake the computer to run scheduled tasks” function is configured but the PC is not awaked to run the backup?
A: Please check the below items:
1. Please check if you enable "fast startup" mode. If yes, please disable the "fast startup" option under Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options\System Settings.
2. Please check if your computer is powered off. If yes, it is unable to wake the computer up.
3. If you are using a laptop, please check if the lid of the laptop is open. Please do not close the lid of the Laptop.
4. If you use Windows Task Scheduler to run backups, please open the Windows Task Scheduler, then find the schedule task in the Task and Scheduler library. Then right-click the schedule-> Properties -> Condition to see if the option "Wake the computer to run this task" is checked. If not, please tick and test again.
If the problem persists, please contact our AOMEI Support Team and attach the log folder under the installation directory of AOMEI Backupper to further analyze this issue.
Q: Why can’t see the small tray of AOMEI Backupper when the scheduled backup is performed?
A: AOMEI Backupper needs to acquire the administrator’s permission to run the interface program, while only using system permission to run the backup. The small tray is a part of the interface program. If your computer is using a no-administrator account (such as a standard account), AOMEI Backupper can’t get the administrator’s permission to open the tray. So the scheduled backup will be performed without the small tray.
If you are using the administrator account, please check if you check the option "Don't show tray icon next time" under the global Settings.
Event Trigger Backup FAQs
Q: The "System Startup" is configured in "Event Trigger", but the backup will only run in case of system hot start, not in system cold start.
A: For cold start and hot start, we advise you to disable the "fast startup" option under Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Power Options\System Settings. In this case, both in system cold and hot start, Backupper will run the Event Backup normally.
Q: The "User Logon" is configured in "Event Trigger", but the backup does not run after the account logs on.
A: Please temporarily close the anti-virus applications, and then try to do the backup again. If it can work, please try to add AOMEI Backupper to the white list of your anti-virus applications, then continue to backups.
If the problem persists, please contact our AOMEI Support Team and attach the log folder under the installation directory of the software so that we can further analyze the problem and help you find solutions.
Q: The "USB Plug In" event backup is configured, but the backup does not execute automatically when the USB drive is connected.
A: Please check if the USB drive is encrypted. If it is encrypted, currently it is unable to execute backups automatically in AOMEI Backupper. In this case, we advise you to decrypt the drive and then retry.
Please confirm if you are using a hard drive connected via USB case/adapter. The "USB Plug In" feature currently supports USB flash drive or removable drive. It can't detect the external drive connected via a USB case/adapter.
Q: Why does the shutdown event backup happen when you restart the computer?
A: The shutdown event backup is based on the shutdown of Windows. The "Restart" computer will have a "shut down" process, so the shutdown event backup will run.
Q: The shutdown event backup doesn’t run after you power off the computer?
A: The shutdown event backup is based on the shutdown of Windows. You can click the “shut down” or “restart” button in Start Menu to enable the shutdown event. However, if you power off the computer, it directly cuts off the power to close the computer forcibly. In this situation, the program can’t get the windows shutdown information to perform backup.
Q: The shutdown event backup doesn’t run after you shut down the computer?
A: If you are using Windows 10/11, please check if you turn on Fast Startup under Control Panel-->Power Options-->System settings. If yes, please close it and then check if shutdown event backup will run.
Q: There is no image file after the shutdown event backup is executed.
A: Please check the following items:
1) There may be user interaction operation when the shutdown event backup is running. Because you can’t see and respond to the interaction during shutdown, the program cancels backup progress and then turn off automatically. So, the image file is not produced. We suggest that you can run the backup manually in Windows to check the interaction operation and then re-edit the backup to cancel the interaction request during shutdown.
2) If you don’t see the interaction request when you run the backup manually in windows, please make the backup run again during shutdown. If there still is no image file, please contact our AOMEI Support Team and attach the log folder under the installation directory of the software so that we can further analyze the problem and help you find solutions.
Q: The event backup doesn’t run after the event occurs.
A: Please check the following items:
Please reinstall the software and try again. And please also check the following items:
1. Please check if AOMEI Backupper Schedule Service is enabled in Windows Services (you can run “services.msc” to open Windows Services). If not, you can enable it manually and set the startup type as "Automatic".
2. Please check if abnotify is running in Windows Task Manager. If not, please find the abnotify.exe under the installation directory of AOMEI Backupper and run it as administrator.
3. If AOMEI Backupper Schedule Service and abnotify are running normally, but the event backup still can’t run, please try to contact our AOMEI Support Team and attach the log folder under the installation directory of the software so that we can further analyze the problem and help you find solutions.
Q: The event backup doesn’t run on this day after you check “Run one time every day” in event triggers.
A: If the backup task has been executed (manually) on this day, the event backup will not run again when the event occurs on this day.
Q: When you turn off the computer, you see the following information:
AOMEI Backupper is in progress, please wait, the machine will be turned off automatically after operation is complete...
A: 1. Please confirm if you set "shut down" event backup. So, when you shut down the computer, it will run the backup and show the information.
2. If a backup or sync process is running before you shut down the computer, it will prevent the computer shut down and continue to complete the backup, so you will see the information.
3. If you run a backup or sync before, and then backup and sync have been completed, but ABCore.exe/ABSync.exe doesn't exit normally due to some reasons, you will see the information when you shut down the computer.
If this interface remains for a long time without ending, you can forcibly close the computer to end it.
Clone FAQs:
Q: How to make a cloned drive bootable?
A: Before disk clone for a system disk, please check the following items:
1. Please clone the current running system drive. If you connect the system disk to another computer via USB port, AOMEI Backupper will clone it as a data disk, in this case, the cloned drive might be unable to boot.
2. If the current system drive and the target drive are different disk types ( for example, one drive is MBR and the other one is GPT), it is recommended to convert the target drive to the same type as the source drive via Windows Disk Management.
3. We suggest that you run chkdsk /r and defrag for the system drive.
After disk clone, please check the following items:
1. Please make sure the new drive is connected internally when you set it to boot. You can remove the source disk and connect the target disk to the same slot boot. If you connect the target disk to the second internal slot, you need to modify Boot Priority to select the new drive as the first boot option in BIOS/UEFI.
2. Please confirm that you are booting the destination disk on the same machine that you do the clone. If you would like to clone the system to another computer to use, we advise you to run a system backup on a working machine and use the feature "Universal Restore".
3. If the cloned drive fails to boot, please try to delete all partitions on the target disk, and then do the clone again with the sector-by-sector clone way if the destination space is bigger.
If the cloned drive still fails to boot, please contact our AOMEI Support Team and offer some pictures of the boot error and disks' layout in Windows Disk Management so that we can further analyze the problem and help you find solutions.
Q: When you do the system clone, it shows:
The program did not find the system partition. Please reboot the system and try again.
A: System Clone will detect the system partitions as source automatically. But, it failed to find the system partition. In this situation, please check if the system disk failed to be listed. You can click Disk Clone, and then the disk list to see if it lists the system disk. If it doesn't list your disks, please check:
1. Please check if the system disk is 4096 bytes/sector. You can press Win+R, type “msinfo32” in the Run box, then open Components-->Storage-->Disks-->check the Bytes/sector of the drive. AOMEI Backupper currently can't list 4096 disk. So, it can't back up for 4096 disk.
2. If the disk is 512 bytes/sector, but it also failed to be listed, please try to uninstall AOMEI Backupper, and reboot computer, and then reinstall it again to check.
3. If you are using WinPE environment of AOMEI Backupper, it might be that the WinPE lack of the drives of disk. So, WinPE can't read the disk. You might need to recreate the WinPE and manually add the drivers.
If AOMEI Backupper can list the system disk, but the system partitions failed to be read correctly (display them blank), it might be that some other applications are protecting the system partition from being read by other software. Currently, we found that RollBack Rx, Reboot Restore Rx and Drive Cloner Rx software will protect system partitions, and make AOMEI Backupper can't access system partitions. In this case, you might need to uninstall the software so that AOMEI Backupper can do the system backup.
For more details, please refer to here.
Q: AOMEI Backupper failed to list disks when you do the disk clone.
A: Please check the following items:
1. Please make sure the disk is listed correctly under Windows Disk Management.
2. Please check the type of this drive. Backupper doesn’t support eMMC storage device. Usually, most of tablet PC use the emmc storage device.
3. Please check whether or not the disk is 4096 bytes per sector. You can press Win+R, type “msinfo32” in the Run box, then open Components-->Storage-->Disks-->check the Bytes/sector of the drive. AOMEI Backupper doesn’t support backing up/cloning 4096 disk. But, you can save the backup files to the 4096 drive.
4. Please check whether or not the disk is a dynamic disk. Backupper doesn’t support backing up/cloning dynamic disk by using Disk Backup/Disk Clone. Please use System or Partition Backup/Clone way to back up/clone dynamic volumes.
5. If you are using WinPE environment of AOMEI Backupper, it might be that the WinPE lack of the drives of disk. So, WinPE can't read the disk. You might need to recreate the WinPE and manually add the drivers.
For more details, please refer to here.
Q: When you do the system clone, it shows:
AOMEI Backupper currently doesn't support backing up or cloning dynamic system volume on GPT disk...
A: AOMEI Backupper currently doesn't support backing up or cloning dynamic system volume on GPT disk. We will add the feature in the future. In this situation, we suggest that you can use AOMEI Partition Assistant to convert the GPT dynamic disk to basic, and then you can continue to clone the basic disk.
Does the cloned drive show "RAW" status after clone?
A: Please delete all partitions on the target disk, and then run the clone again. The sector-by-sector clone method is recommended to try. If the problem still persists, please contact our AOMEI Support Team and attach the log folder under the installation directory of the software so that we can further analyze the problem and help you find solutions.
File Sync FAQs:
Q: Why does it create the source folder under the destination when you do a Basic/Mirror/Real-time sync?
A: The Basic/Mirror/Real-time Sync feature will sync the whole source folder to the destination. So, it will need to create the source folder under the destination.
Q: How do we only sync data from the source folder to the target folder?
A: AOMEI Backupper currently will sync the whole folder to the destination. If you want to sync data from a folder to another folder with the same name, for example, sync data from the D:\Test folder to E:\Test folder, if you select E:\A as the destination, it will create Test folder under E:\Test, so data under D:\Test will actually be synced to E:\Test\Test. We suggest that you can select E:\ as the destination when you create the sync task, because there is Test folder under the destination, it will directly sync data of D:\Test to the Test folder of E:\.
If you want to sync from a drive to another drive, for example, sync from D: to E: drive, the sync feature will regard D: as a folder to sync, then it will create D folder under E:\. So, it can't directly sync the root directory of D: to E:\.
Q: Why files larger than 4GB in the source directory may not be synced to the target path?
A: If the target drive was located in the FAT/FAT32 partition, files larger than 4GB will not be synced to the target path because a single file larger than 4GB cannot be stored on a FAT/FAT32 partition. Please re-select another target path and try again.
Q: Why files aren’t deleted from the target path when they have been deleted from the source?
A: For Basic/Mirror/Real-time Sync task, you need to tick "Sync the deletions in the source directory to destination" under sync's Options (real-time sync feature is ticked the option by default), so it will sync deleting files from the destination when they have been deleted from the source drive.
Q: Does AOMEI Backupper support real-time Two-Way sync?
A: AOMEI Backupper currently doesn't support a real two-way sync feature. Maybe you can set the schedule for two-way sync.
Q: Why there are some changes under the source directory, but the changes are still not synchronized to the destination?
A: Please check the following items:
1. For Basic/Mirror/Two-Way sync, you need to run the sync task, then it will start syncing changed or added files to destination. Or, you set a schedule sync, you need to check the destination after the schedule sync is run.
2. Please confirm if you check the correct destination directory. The Basic/Mirror/Real-time Sync feature will sync the whole source folder to the destination. So, you need to check the data of the folder with the same source name under destination path.
3. For Real-Time sync, please try to manually run the sync task and check if it syncs changed/added files. If yes, it might be that the real-time sync failed to run automatically. In this situation, please check if the ABSync.exe still is running under Windows Task Manager when there is no other sync task running. If ABSync.exe is not running, you can find ABSync.exe under the installation directory of AOMEI Backupper, right-click and manually run ABSync.exe as an administrator and please also temporarily close the anti-virus program or add ABSync.exe and ABCore.exe to the whitelist of the anti-virus program, then check it can run.
If the problem still persists, please contact our AOMEI Support Team and attach the log folder under the installation directory of the software so that we can further analyze the problem and help you find solutions.
Q: Why source files aren't synced to the target path again when the files have been deleted from the target directory?
A: For Basic/Real-time Sync task, it will only detect changes on the source directory and sync change to the destination. If these files that are deleted from the destination don't have any change, they aren't synced again.
If you want the files in the target directory will always be exactly the same as the files in the source directory, you can use mirror sync feature. So, It will synchronize these deleted files from the destination again from the source to the destination.
Q: After real-time sync, why some files or folders in the target path cannot be accessed?
A: The possible reason is that after the files or folders are synced to the target path, the character of files or folders path exceeds the maximum path character allowed by Windows system. Although the files or folders cannot be accessed, they are not damaged. You can access the files or folders by cutting the parent directory of them to another path with less character.
Q: How to view the progress of real-time sync?
A: Real-time sync temporarily has not yet used an executing interface or a tray notification to show sync progress. You only can view the progress when creating a new task and it is unable to view it later. To determine how the real-time sync is executed, you only can check the status of files in the target path or the log.
Q: After Word and Excel documents real-time sync, why there are many temporary files in the target path which are created when modifying Word and Excel documents?
A: Because real-time sync will monitor all the subfolders and files (including temporary files) in the source folder, temporary files will also be synced when performing real-time sync. To ensure data safety, the program provides the “target files will be deleted when deleting the source files” function in the real-time sync setting.
Restore FAQs:
Q: You received the following messages when you do restore: “Failed to add boot configuration, cannot enter Restart Mode. Please make a bootable disc by clicking "Tools" -> "Create Bootable Media" and boot from a CD/DVD to realize the restore operation.” Or “Failed to create the Windows PE bootable ISO image, the operation cannot proceed. Please try to make the Windows PE bootable ISO image by clicking “Tools”-> “Create Bootable Media”.”
A: If the restore destination is occupied by other programs or system processes (for example, system restore to running C: drive), the restore operation will need to be performed under Restart Mode. However, AOMEI Backupper may fail to enter into Restart Mode automatically due to some unknown error, or fail to create WinPE reboot environment successfully. To solve the problem with the following methods:
1. Create WinPE iso (ampe.iso) via Tools-->Create Bootable Media, and then put the iso in the installation directory of AOMEI Backupper. After that, please try to restore again.
Tips: When you create the WinPE, please check if it checks "Download WinPE creating environment...". If yes, the WinPE reboot environment failed to be created successfully due to no recovery environment on your system. maybe you can try to download and install Windows ADK and Windows PE Addon. After that, please try to do the restore again. As for downloading and installing Windows ADK and Windows PE Addon, please refer to here.
2. Make a WinPE bootable disc by clicking "Tools" -> "Create Bootable Media" and boot from the WinPE disc to restore.
Q: You received the message: “Because the system partition exists in a dynamic disk or the image file exists in a dynamic volume. You can go to Tools-> Create Bootable Media and make a Windows PE bootable CD (not Linux Bootable CD) and try again.” when you do restore.
A: When the restore operation needs to be performed under reboot mode, and your computer reboots into Linux reboot mode automatically. However, the Linux environment can't read an image file in a dynamic volume and also can't read the dynamic volume as restore destination.
To solve the problem with the following methods:
1. Copy this image file to a basic partition and then restore again.
2. AOMEI Backupper can read image file on a dynamic volume under WinPE. Please click Tools-> Create Bootable Media to create a WinPE bootable media. After that, please boot from WinPE bootable media to do a restore.
Q: You received the message: “Because the image file exists in a share/NAS network, you need to make a bootable CD...” when you do a restore operation.
A: To solve the problem, you need to click Tools -> Create Bootable Media to create a bootable media. Then, boot your computer from the bootable media to complete the restore process.
Q: You get the message: “Unable to get the backup information because the image file does not exist, or it can’t be accessed...” when you click the Restore or Advanced button on a backup task of Home screen.
A: The problem might be that the task can’t locate the backup files. You can delete the task and then re-import the backup task by browsing the backup files under Tools-->Import/Export Configuration. After that, the task will be listed on the Home screen again, then you can continue to perform restore or Advanced operations.
Or, if you only want to do a restore, you can directly click Restore-->Select Image File, and then browse and select a single image file from destination to restore.
Universal Restore FAQs:
Q: After the system is restored to other dissimilar hardware computers, why cannot it boot normally?
A: Please make sure that the “Universal Restore” button is checked, because when there is a difference between the computer where the source system is installed and hardware environment of the target computer, “Universal Restore” must be chosen, and restored operating system can be sure to boot normally.
Maybe the computer disk mode (AHCI IDE RAID) is changed. Disk mode is not allowed to be changed after using universal restore. In other words, if the disk mode is AHCI while restoring the system, please stay disk mode the same as AHCI after restoring, If not, the system will not boot normally; so does IDE RAID and they need to stay the same with source disk on disk mode. (About disk mode, you can refer to the BIOS manual).
Please make sure that Universal Restore operation is run under Windows or Windows PE bootable media, because AOMEI Linux bootable media can’t support universal restore currently.
If the BIOS version of target computer that you restore system to is advanced than InsydeH20 Rev.3.7 version, you need to enter BIOS setting manually and set “OS Optimized Defaults” in the “Exit” item:
Only in this way, a different machine that is restored system will be sure to boot normally.
- If the OS restored is Windows 7, you need set the parameter as “Win7 OS”.
- If the OS restored is Windows 8, you need set the parameter as “Win8 64bit”.
- If the OS restored is another Windows system, you need set the parameter as “Other OS”.
Q: About the problem that activation overdue is prompted by computer that applied with universal restore while it booting.
A: After restoring legitimate Windows from one computer to others, it is normal that system prompted that system need to be activated again after it booting. Due to the fact that there is limitation to use activation code, therefore, you may need to activate the system again.
Q: About the problem that software needs to be activated again after using universal restore.
A: After restoring Windows from one computer to others, it is normal that billing application prompted needs to be activated again after it booting. Due to the fact that there is limitation to use activation code, therefore, you may need to reactivate those billing application again.
Q: About the problem that computer need to install graphics card, network card, and sound card drivers, etc.
A: Universal Restore just makes sure the system can boot normally after restoring system from one computer to another. For some drivers that are not relevant to system booting, such as graphic card, network card, and sound card drivers, etc, they need to be installed manually.
WinPE Bootable Media FAQs:
Q: You received the message: “Failed to create the bootable USB device...” when you create the WInPE bootable USB.
A: In the "Select Bootable Media" dialog box, choose "Export ISO File" way to create an ampe.iso file, and then burn the ISO file to USB, CD, or DVD via third-party burning tools.
Q: You received the message: “Create WinPE ISO file failed…” when you click "Tools" -> "Create Bootable Media" to create WinPE bootable media.
A: It might that there are some unknown errors in your recovery environment. You can try to recreate the WinPE by checking “Download WinPE Creating Environment from the internet”. Or, you can download and install Windows AIK/ADK and Windows PE Addon from Microsoft site, and then create WinPE again. Please check more details and download Windows AIK or ADK here.
Q: AOMEI Backupper can’t detect the internet under WinPE environment.
A: Please check the following items:
1) If you are using the virtual network that is connected to a proxy server under Windows, AOMEI Backupper can’t detect the internet.
2) If it is connected via the wireless network, AOMEI Backupper can’t detect the internet under WinPE.
3) If AOMEI Backupper can’t connect to the internet in WinPE, maybe there is no network card driver. Please recreate the WinPE and add these drivers of network card manually during creation. Or, you can check“Download WinPE creating environment from the internet”, the creating environment is based on Windows 10 with lots of common drivers included, so you may not have to add drivers like network adapter or NVME/m.2, etc.
Q: When selecting to create a WinPE bootable CD, a window prompts up: "Detects that there is not any writable disc, please insert a writable disc. Click "yes" to continue, or "no".".
A: Please just create a WinPE ISO with AOMEI Backupper and then manually burn the ISO to the CD with a third-party burning program. Or, please try to create WinPE bootable USB to use.
Q: The program exits abnormally during the creation of bootable media.
A: When you create the WinPE, please check if it checks "Download WinPE creating environment...". If yes, please try to download and install Windows ADK and Windows PE Addon. After that, please try to create WinPE with uncheck the option. As for downloading and installing Windows ADK and Windows PE Addon, please refer to here.
Or, you can use our AOMEI PE Builder tool to create WinPE bootable media. It will integrate AOMEI Backupper automatically.
Q: The creation of a bootable CD process is stuck at 99%.
A: There indeed is error during burning winpe to CD. We will fix it later. Please try to create winpe iso (Third option: Export ISO File), then burn it to your CD manually via the third-party burning tool (Such as, Ultraiso, Rufus, ISOtoUSB and so on ).
Or, you can try to create winpe bootable USB via AOMEI Backupper. There is no problem when creating winpe usb.
Or, you can try to create winpe bootable CD via AOMEI PEBuilder.
Email Notification FAQs:
Q: What does it mean about “User interaction required” in the email notification?
A: The program needs to open an interaction window that is waiting to be interacted by the user in the following situations when the program invokes the small tray to run the backup, such as schedule backup.
In the three situations, the interactive window is waiting for response three Minutes during backup/sync. If it does not get a response, the program will choose a default one to process automatically.
1) The interactive window shows that you need to restart or skip files when you back up/sync these files accessed by other programs.
2) The interactive window requires NAS username and password when the program cannot connect the NAS.
3) The interactive window shows that you need to make more space available when there is not enough space to save a backup in the destination.
In the four situations, the interactive window is waiting for response until you do it.
1) The interactive window shows that you need to insert a new CD/DVD after the last CD/DVD is used up when you back up to CD/DVD.
2) The interactive window shows that the CD/DVD will be erased after you insert the CD-RW/DVD-RW when you back up to CD/DVD.
3) The interactive window shows that you need to register when the backup starts to run if the software is not registered or the trail has expired.
4) The interactive window shows that you need to confirm the operation when the program needs to reboot into the WinPE environment to complete backup.
Q: Why does it send a test email failed with the message “Sorry, failed to send text message”?
A: For Gmail Server: When you set up email notification with Gmail server, you need to use app password of Google. For more details, please refer to here.
For Custom SMTP Server: AOMEI Backupper requires SMTP authentication, it does not support anonymous access. If you set up it without credentials, you will encounter this error.
Q: Why could you send a test message successfully but could not get email notifications after successful or failed operations?
A: Please check if you have configured and enabled "Email Notifications" for the backup task. ( You can find the task and click the three-line button and click "Edit Backup" and clicking "Options"-"General" and check if you enabled the "Email Notifications"). If it is not enabled, please enable the feature and retry.
If you have configured the feature for the task but still do not get the email notifications when you can get a test message, please contact our AOMEI Support Team and offer screenshots of the email notification settings and attach the log folder under the installation directory of the software so that we can further analyze the problem and help you find solutions.
AOMEI PXE Boot Tool FAQ
Q: How do I configure PXE service in server-side? How to use PXE function to boot in client-side?
A: 1. Run the program to configure PXE service. You can choose "Boot from AOMEI Windows PE system", "Boot from AOMEI Linux system", or "Boot from custom image file". Then click "Start Service" button. If the current system doesn’t have the required environment to create a bootable image file, the program will prompt you to install Windows AIK or ADK.
2. After you have finished configuring server-side, ensure the client-side and server-side both exist in the same LAN and network segment.
3. Check whether DHCP server exists in LAN or not. There must be a DHCP server in LAN. If you don't have a DHCP server, you can use some software such as TFTPD32 to build it.
4. If the client computer’s motherboard is set to UEFI boot mode, change to legacy BIOS boot mode and enable the PXE boot option in BIOS.
5. Restart the client computer to start up the system through the network booting.
Notes:
- Optional: Temporarily close all firewalls, including Windows firewall and third-party program firewall before running the feature.
- Optional: You may be prompted that some ports are in use by other programs, when starting the PXE service. You may enter the CMD command prompt, and separately type:
netstat -aon|findstr "67", netstat -aon|findstr "69", netstat -aon|findstr "4011" to check if the 67, 69, 4011 ports of server-side are in use by other programs.
If so, please type tasklist|findstr "PID" to find out which processes are using these ports, and then manually end the processes using these ports.
Q: In a few cases when using PXE, why does it fail to create a Windows PE bootable image file?
A: Causes may be:
1. The environment required to create a Windows PE bootable image file is not present in the current system. In such case, the program will prompt you to install Windows AIK or ADK, and then restart program to try again.
2. The program is installed in the directory which includes non-English characters. In such case, the program will prompt you that it failed to create Windows PE bootable image file. Please use the "Create Bootable Media" function in AOMEI Backupper to create Windows PE bootable ISO image file, and then store it to the program installation directory. Alternatively reinstall the program into English directory, or install the language pack in current system related to the non-English characters included in the installation directory.
3. A bug has occurred. Please use "Create Bootable Media" function in AOMEI Backupper to create a Windows PE bootable ISO image file, and then store it to the program installation directory. Alternatively use other software to create bootable ISO image file, such as AOMEI PE Builder, or select a bootable ISO image file you have already created.
4. If the "Create Bootable Media" function in server-side program is running, creating Windows PE bootable image file in the PXE function will fail. Please wait until the progress of "Create Bootable Media" in server-side program is completed, and then continue with the operation in the PXE function.
Q: In a few cases, why does the client-side fail to boot from the network even after they have finished configuring PXE service in the server-side?
A: 1. If the server-side and client-side do not exist in the same network segment, the server-side neither receives the request from client-side nor sends data to the client-side. The inability to communicate results in the client-side failing to use the PXE function to boot from server-side. In such a case, configure the server-side and client-side with the same network segment.
2. If the LAN on which the server-side and client-side exist does not have DHCP server, the client-side cannot obtain the IP address when booting from the network. To solve this problem, add a router with DHCP service to the LAN, or use third-party software such as TFTPD32 to configure DHCP service on another computer.
3. The client-side using PXE function to boot from the network may be affected if the firewall of server-side is enabled. In such case, close the firewall of server-side.
4. Boot failure will occur if the client-side uses UEFI boot mode to start up from the network. Currently the PXE function in the program does not support UEFI boot mode. To correct this, enter into motherboard settings to change the UEFI boot mode into legacy BIOS boot mode.
5. It may be that the logged-in user in server-side is not an Administrator account. In such a case, the configured PXE service fails to start automatically after logging in. Please run AOMEI PXE Tool with administrator privileges, and then click "Start Service" button. Restart from the client-side to try again.
6. The client-side using PXE function to boot from the network must connect to the server-side through a wired network. The PXE function does not support communication through the wireless network card.
Q: In a few cases, why does system startup fail when using PXE function to boot from the network?
A: 1. The selected bootable image file might have a problem. Please re-create a bootable image file, or use "Create Bootable Media" function in AOMEI Backupper, or use AOMEI PE Builder.
2. If the selected bootable image file is too large, or the computer’s memory too small, boot failure may occur because of insufficient memory. Please select a smaller bootable image file.
AOMEI Image Deploy FAQ
Q: Does AOMEI Image Deploy support UEFI boot machines?
A: Currently, the AOMEI Image Deploy support booting UEFI machines.
Q: How to solve the SID related issue when you deploy a system image to different computers in the same domain.
A: To solve the problem, you can first run the Sysprep command to remove the SID information from a computer you wish to create a deployment image from and then deploy that image to multiple computers using the AOMEI Image Deployment tool. Please check the instructions here.
Q: Why the “Local IP” and the “Server IP” showed in client computer have different network segment and also the connection status is “None”?
A: Maybe there are multiple DHCP servers in the LAN. Please just keep one DHCP server and Disable others.
Also, maybe there is no network card driver, or the network card driver on the client computer is not recognized.
We advise you to open the image deploy tool, click the “Create bootable WinPE manually” button and add some necessary drivers to recreate the WinPE ISO and then retry.
Q: Why you get the message “Restored failed (error code:32781)” when you deploy images?
A: Please first make sure the internet is well-connected. You can also try to input the IP address of the client PC instead of the computer name address. Also, you can try to temporarily close the anti-virus program and firewall and check again.
If the problem still remains, maybe there is no network card driver or the network card driver on the client computer is not recognized.
Please open the Image Deploy tool, click the “Create bootable WinPE manually” button, and add some necessary drivers to recreate the WinPE ISO. And then, please retry to deploy the image again.
Q: Why you can just restore one disk of the backup image which has several disks?
A: If the one disk backup image has multiple disks, the software just supports to restore the first one of that disk backup image.
Q: Why the disk format of the client computer sometimes is changed from GPT to MBR or from MBR to GPT after restore?
A: When you restore the backup image to the client computer, the software will delete all the data in the destination and then change the disk format of the client computer to be the same as the disk format of the backup image. For example, if the disk is MBR in the backup image but the target disk is GPT in the client computer when the software does the restore, the disk in the client computer will be changed to MBR. If the disk format is the same, the software will directly continue to create the partition to do the restore. Therefore, the disk format of the client computer must be the same as the one in the backup image. If not, the software will change it automatically.
Q: How to ensure that the client computer is bootable after restoring the system image or disk backup image?
A: 1. Please check if the boot mode in BIOS is consistent with the restored disk or system. If the restored disk is GPT, the boot mode must be EFI/UEFI. If the restored disk is MBR, the boot mode is legacy. 2. Please ensure that the computer name and the IP address you set for the client computer are not used by another computer in the same LAN. If they are used by another computer and this computer is on, when you boot the client computer you will get the error message that the computer name and the IP address conflict with another computer which is in the same LAN.
Q: Why the Windows PE ISO made with the AOMEI Backupper cannot be used by the AOMEI Image Deploy software to deploy the system?
A: Because that only the Windows PE made with AOMEI Image Deploy software can communicate with the AOMEI Image Deploy server. Please use the AOMEI Image Deploy to do the Windows PE ISO file. In addition, the AOMEI Image Deploy cannot recognize the Windows PE ISO made with other software.
Q: Why the server shows that the client computer information is that “Respond to boot request” and the client computer is stuck on this page that “PXELINUX 6.03 lwIP Copyright (c)1994-2014 H.Peter Anvin et al -” all the time?
A: Usually, you encounter this problem because you use the “Enable DHCP” feature but the IP address of client computer allocated by the DHCP server is same with (conflicts with) the one of another computer which is running in the same LAN. We advise you to turn off that running another computer or change the IP address of that computer. Then please reboot the client computer to do the operation again.