How do I copy the master boot record from one harddrive to another or how to install just the MBR?

if it is for unix or linux :

Copy just the MBR and boot sector of a hard dirve to another hard drive image:

dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb bs=512 count=2

Copy MBR only of a hard drive:

dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb bs=446 count=1

otherwise you can create a file of MBR image and later you can copy back to the hard drive.

Check the hard drive names in your machine....

If it is for windows, you have lot of tool available here :

http://www.geocities.com/thestarman3...tToolsRefs.htm

I tried dd if=/dev/hda of=/dev/hdb bs=512 count=2 and I it said it couldn't find /dev/hda. I looked in the /dev directory and there is no hda (or sda)?!?

tried to do on what OS?

solaris 5.8

I don't know how to copy a boot block, but you can install a new boot block if you have the Solaris CD. Check the man page of installboot(1m).

I read this and nearly had a heart attack... the instructions given above a PLAIN WRONG and will destroy your partitions and data.

To backup the MBR you

dd if=/dev/sda of=mbrbackup bs=512 count=1

to restore the MBR you want to

dd if=mbrbackup of=/dev/sdb bs=446 count=1

If you copy more than 446 you will wipe over the partition tables, which is OK if you are copying to the same disk with the same unchanged partitions.

Whoever you are who wrote what you did, you should be ashamed of yourself for leaving such inaccurate and dangerous information out there.

To everyone else, please double check your DD commands before you use them because you can do irreparable damage. If in double google a few different sources to double and triple check.

Drak