Taking a frequent backup of the data stored on your computer is really important to make sure that in case of any disaster which can result in data loss, you can easily restore the data back onto your computer.
The benefit of having an automated backup and restore tool installed on your computer is that you do not have to worry about the backup procedures on a daily basis.
Even though there are quite a lot of gadgets shadowmaker software solutions out there, most of them are either paid solutions or the free ones lack a lot in terms of features.
If you are in search of a free Windows backup tool, which can provide all important features that are seen on other paid solutions, then we are here with the review of such a tool today.
Today we would like to present you with the review of the MiniTool ShadowMaker Free 2.0, which is among the best and most recommended free backup and restore tool for the Windows operating system.
MiniTool ShadowMaker Free 2.0 Review
User Interface
The MiniTool ShadowMaker Free 2.0 has a familiar user interface with nothing crazy going around in terms of UI elements. All the main features of the software are displayed on the top panel of the software window with separate icons which makes it easier to access each feature.
One major option that is missing from the top panel is “Settings”. This is because the software completely skips on the Settings option as any refinements that can be done to the features can be done from within the main interface itself.
The software comes with a “Feedback” option which will allow you to contact the support team of the MiniTool ShadowMaker Free 2.0 software so that you can get any of your issues with the software resolved via mail. The feedback tool also generates a report which will help the support team technicians to understand your issue in a better way.
The application also features an inbuilt user manual which can be accessed offline and is a great help especially for people who are using a backup and restore tool for the first time.
Features
Below is a list of the features offered by the MiniTool ShadowMaker Free 2.0 software.
- Ability to take a quick backup of disks, partitions, files, folders, or even the entire system.
- Restore hard disk or system to the previously backed up state easily.
- Scheduled backups.
- Select from incremental/differential/full backup modes depending on what works best for your system.
- Clone your entire hard disk drive to empty space on your hard disk.
- Create a bootable media of your OS to restore your OS to its previous state in case of any errors.
- Support for all editions of Windows XP and above.
Performance
One of the highlight performance features of the MiniTool ShadowMaker Free 2.0 is that it consumes very little system resources when running in the background and even when actively performing backup operations. This is definitely something you cannot tell about the other backup software solutions out there.
Now, talking about the performance in terms of backup and restore operations, the software is able to perform a complete backup and restore operations of OS and hard disk drives without any hiccups in our testing.
However, the time taken to actually complete the backup or restore operations largely varies on the amount of data and also other feature variables.
To give you a perspective of the backup speed, we performed a test featuring over 2500 files of different formats which in total crossed 5GB in disk space. The time taken by the MiniTool ShadowMaker Free 2.0 is just under 10 minutes, which is really impressive for a free backup and restore Windows tool.
Pricing
The MiniTool ShadowMaker Free 2.0, as the name suggests, is an absolutely free tool to download, install and use on supported Windows systems. However, some of the features of the software comes with certain restrictions in terms of storage capacity in the free version.
In order to experience full unlimited backup and restore service using the MiniTool ShadowMaker software, you need to upgrade to a paid version.
Depending on your use scenario, you can choose from either of the four versions mentioned below:
- MiniTool ShadowMaker Pro: $29.
- MiniTool ShadowMaker Pro Ultimate: $79.
- MiniTool ShadowMaker Business Standard: $129.
- MiniTool ShadowMaker Business Deluxe: $399.
You can get a more in-depth idea of how each of these versions differs from each other by visiting the official MiniTool ShadowMaker download page.
Final Words
We hope that you found the above review of the MiniTool ShadowMaker Free 2.0 interesting. In case you are already using this tool or used it in the past, then do leave your review about the software as a comment below.