AOMEI Backupper

I wonder if this issue is me being dumb or it is actually real now.

I've been using Macrium7 (and the Windows Backup imaging utility) for reliable image backups. Obviously I prefer Macrium7 Reflect Free because it is faster and the image file can be mounted to recover individual files or folders; also, Windows 7 imaging is persistently reported as unreliable. I have used the utility available in Macrium7 and the Windows program to make a bootable DVD for image recovery off an external HDD - these boot CD's have been tested and work ok, finding the image file for recovery off a USB-connected HDD.

So I thought in an idle moment (not too many of them) I would add belts to the braces and also install AOMEI Backupper. Earlier I had tried OneKey but jettisoned it in favour of the Macrium Recovery route. I also use both MiniTool and AOMEI Partition Manager without issue. The AOMEI Partition Manager has a utility for generating a bootable DVD (the freeware version of MiniTool has removed that) to allow for partition manipulation off the HDD, as it should. Tested and works ok.

So AOMEI Backupper came with a pedigree I thought was pretty good, and as a belt 'n brace addition seemed to be a good idea. So I installed it and actually made a full image on to an external HDD, then mounted the image to test individual files and found the dismount utility. So far, so good. Image file size about the same as that of Macrium7 and all looked simple enough.

Then I tried to generate the critical bootable DVD to allow recovery of the image onto the main HDD (the entire point of a full image). Won't boot, won't boot ... either legacy or UEFI form, won't boot ...

The AOMEI FAQ does not hold that issue so it is of no help. I'm using Win7 and I see the AOMEI boot DVD uses Win10 WinPE environment to make the bootable DVD. Is that the problem, I wonder ? AOMEI Partition Manager bootable DVD was generated from an earlier version of that program with a more flexible WinPE choice, I think.

If so, there is a facility for pointing to a WinPE environment to use in generating the bootable DVD. If that's an answer, which WinPE file should I use ? Perhaps the Macrium7 one, or the AOMEI Partition one ?

Thanks for the reply :)

> "Try using an older version of AOMEI, I use 2.2 and it works. Latest versions are quirky attempting to create boot media. If you have access to a Win7x64 computer, use that to create the media."

I had hoped an earlier version would indeed work (MS has been busy trying to squelch Win7 for Win10 in the last year. Most hardware and software suppliers seem to have agreed). From the link you kindly supplied, I tried a number of older versions from 2.2 to 4.0.3. Same result - won't boot. AOMEI Partition generates a working boot disk, as does Macrium7 and Windows Backup, but not AOMEI Backup. I'm using my Win7 Pro x64 machine.

>"If you wish, I can attach an ISO of AOMEI boot media and you can burn that to disk or usb.
Use ImgBurn to burn ISO to DVD, Rufus to burn ISO to USB. Copy & paste will not work"

Thank you for the offer but I much prefer to find out *why* I cannot generate a reliable boot disk. I do know how to burn ISO's, of course (only a "junior" on this particular forum).

>"What options did you choose when creating bootable media?
Unless you're familiar with Linux, choose Win PE."

I am familiar enough with Linux although for this installation I prefer WinPE. In any case, I tried both - no success.

>"Next screen, don't use UEFI (recommended), won't boot. Why, not sure, added to my to do research list!
Choose Create the bootable disk based on legacy boot mode."

Win7 won't boot in UEFI mode if legacy mode is disabled and Secure Boot is on. So although one can generate a boot disk in UEFI, if those two conditions are not first reversed, Win7 won't boot. This forum contains many very useful tutorials about this - very informative and practical. Again in any case, neither mode worked here.

I'll keep trying. There is the ability to generate a boot disk with AOMEI Partition so I wonder if I can "graft" the Backupper program onto that. Or generate a standard generic boot disk and install AOMEI Backer on the external disk and run it from there to restore.

I had this problem several years back. Get a small USB drive (Aomei only formats 4 GB.) Use the Linux option since the only thing you will end up with is the Aomei interface. No need for WinPE. Set your BIOS to boot to USB before Windows.

Thanks for all your suggestions.
@SIW2 - I tried that. The "make bootable media" utility in AOMEI Partition then hangs at about 80% completion on writing the DVD and needs quite brutal manual intervention to turn it off. I note that this utility (Standard Edition 7.0) uses Win8.1 as the WinPE enviroment, whereas the more recent editions of BackUpper use Win10.

My tentative conclusion so far ? AOMEI Backup is not reliable. Macrium7 is. I'm sure other people have found differently but I cannot rely on it.

@SIW2

Again, thank you for the help. As I'd noted, other people may find AOMEI Backer reliable. My hard experience here is that Macrium7 is best.

I've looked at your proffered ISO boot file, dl'ed it, burnt it to disc and tested it. Works fine. So what is the difference between the ISO's generated on my machine and yours ? As I thought, the files bootmgr.efi and bootx64.efi are missing from my ISO's generated in AOMEI but present both in your ISO and my generated AOMEI partition and Macrium7 boot discs.

Bluntly, it may be that the 1st AOMEI Backer version I tried (most recent), which offered only a WinPE Win10 environment has left registry entries which I cannot identify, to prevent completion of bootable discs other than on Win10 systems. I really hope this is not so, but if someone with a Win7 Pro x64 system can generate a bootable disc with the current version of AOMEI Backer this would confirm that something else is the problem here.

As it stands, I have a 2nd machine running Win7 Pro x64 with both Macrium7 and AOMEI Partition on it, but not AOMEI Backer yet. I'll ensure a Restore Point and a Macrium7 image on it, then try AOMEI v2.2 and see what we will see (as Schulz said :))