Backups and copying?
QFor years I’ve been using the free Aomei Backupper (www. snipca.com/44814) software to back up various folders to an external drive once a month. Recently, I tried copying and pasting a folder of files to the drive instead – all 152GB of it – and it appeared to work. This made me wonder whether there’s any difference between copying files using the copy and paste functions in Windows and doing it using a backup program. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen anyone ask or answer this question.
AIt’s a very good question, and we can’t remember anyone asking it before either. So, let’s address it now.
The answer is that it depends. As you use Aomei Backupper, we’ll talk about that, but other backup programs have very similar features. That’s to say, they offer a variety of backup options, many of which are not the same as simply copying and pasting files.
In particular, Aomei’s Disk Backup mode (see screenshot above) creates a disk-image file, rather than simply copying every file. This means you end up with one big file containing all the files and folders you’re backing up. The image file is then compressed, so it takes up less drive space than your original files and folders. You can adjust the compression level by clicking Options followed by Advanced, then opening the dropdown menu under Compression (see screenshot above right).
So, using Aomei saves space compared with copying and pasting files, and it’s typically quicker, too. However, you can’t immediately access the files you’ve backed up. You need to restore them using the program’s Restore option.
Aomei’s ‘Sync’ mode is closer to copy and paste. This option ensures that files in any synced folders are the same, and is generally quicker than copying and pasting, because it copies only files that have changed since the last backup. What’s more, you can access files on your backup drive without having to use the Restore function, as you would with Disk Backup.
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