Let's keep this simple. If the product meets your needs, reliably, use it.
There were a couple of quite different things that I found didn't work using Aomei B with respect to Windows at one point. Maybe that's changed now. The consensus here from experience- research this on the forum where this has been discussed before- is that MR is usually the most dependable.
I was doing backups for many, many years now, first it was tapes, than CD/DVD and the likes of it but with HDDs becoming so affordable there's no much reason not to use online or offline backups regularly. Much cheaper and easier than data salvage in case of something going wrong, Murphy never sleeps. For now even free version of MR works best for me. Because I don't keep backup disks (have 5 or 6 of them) connected online all the time, full system manual backup that replaces every other (older) backup works best. Personal data from other 3 disks always connected are backed up manually when convenient and required. I have all permanent disks in live removable trays and one tray is always empty to insert a disk to backup to. All are SATA HDDs and that way it's much faster than if used thru USB adapters. It helps me overcome laziness to backup. Insert a disk, let backup work in background until finished, take it out and store in safe place is all it takes.
I'm into insider builds from day one, so I have established a routine to check, change, clean and backup before and after every build. Also using Winaero Tweaker with a macro to apply all usual tweaks and changes in one fell swoop. Still, it would be nice of MS not to change any personal tweaks if not absolutely necessary.
I would never use anything but Macriun Reflect especially having bought Home. It is far more flexible than Aomei.
Having said that, one criticism of Macrium Reflect Free is that its interface is not that intuitive for beginners, and really needs a "basic" menu added for beginners.
One thing Aoemi does have the edge on the Free version of Macrium is it offers incremental backups.
Whilst I would recommend Macrium Reflect as regulars here KNOW it is reliable, I can see why beginners might go for AOMEI. In the end, as you say, use whichever product suits individual s needs. It is better to use any tool than none (except Acronis which is overpaid garbage imo).
“Why is System Restore not automatically activated as default?”
I posted a request about this on Feedback Hub about 3(?) weeks ago.
I can’t find out how to get back into it: does anyone know how I can do that?
I do see on the right side that there haven’t been any upvotes.
Ok but I want to find what I did post.
Can someone help me figure that out?
BTW, there are enough complaints about that issue in reference to Windows Update and I essentially mentioned why isn’t System Restore not automatically activated as default similar to Windows Defender in the sense that Microsoft’s Windows Defender knows when it needs to be activated vs. when it doesn’t need to be activated because there is another anti-virus program protecting the computer.
In general, though I suspect System Restore should not be automatically activated as default because the restore points that were in the system are not applicable anymore due to “incompatibility of the previous entries” of the new current update.
As so many others recommend system image backups focused more so on Macrium Reflect, so do I.
I also do use System Restore points. Fortunately, I haven’t had to use either one.
But for the people I help those are invaluable tools.
Unfortunately though MOST of the people I help don’t want to bother with creating system image backups but there are quite a few times I demand on doing so or they can go see anyone else they want.
@ dalchina in post #31: “Let's keep this simple. If the product meets your needs, reliably, use it.”
That’s definitely a +1.
Last night was another late night on this problem. My family think I am turning into a vampire!...
On the Microsoft route one of the pc's got stuck on Backup at 97%. I found this article which really helped: https://www.partitionwizard.com/clone-disk/windows-backup-stuck.html#fix-windows
So that is one annoyance out of the way.
I retested Macrium Free on a clean install pc and the MFT corrupt problem came back so I will not install it on my main pc's until I get to the bottom of the problem as I am never too happy when a problem occurs on clean installs. Otherwise I will experiment with Aomei etc.
WD offer a free product for their clients: https://support.wdc.com/downloads.aspx?p=119 I don't know how good or limited it is or if anyone has had experience with it.
It's good that you have at least one test PC but it seems that you have more PC’s to take care and it appears to me one of your PC’s is ok now using Macrium Reflect.
May I recommend you do straight away full system image backups for the time being on a scheduled basis. In Macrium Reflect please ensure to turn on Verify image or backup file directly after creation.
Unfortunately “one size fits all” can be difficult to attain as it appears there are some dual-boot PC’s and some with MFT issues which btw looks like you are on the path to deal with them. BTW are all of the PC’s Win10’s?
Reflect is great. Saved me a couple of times. The free version is a general recommendation I see many times. The last time
I looked at the paid version was kind of expensive for my tastes. I have never trusted MS utilities !!!!
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