MBR Backup and Restore - how to

[lfnfan]

Can anyone recommend a good method / application for backup and restore of my PC's MBR? I have seen a few apps from googling but I'm not sure what's good and what's junk.

I am currently running XP and am going down the route of dual-booting with Linux Mint. I'm a total noob at linux and dual-booting so would like to secure my lines of retreat if i / grub mess up my existing MBR.

Thanks for any input.

[Force Flow]

Boot from the Windows XP CD and go to the recovery console. enter each of these commands seperately:

FIXBOOT

FIXMBR

Those will reset the MBR.


If you have a spare computer availalbe, I would normally recommend using that instead of setting up a dual boot (especially if this is your primary machine).

Or, use VirtualBox and set the OS up as a virtual machine. This way, nothing destructive would happen.

[lfnfan]

Boot from the Windows XP CD and go to the recovery console. enter each of these commands seperately: FIXBOOT FIXMBR Those will reset the MBR.

Sounds too easy

If you have a spare computer available, I would normally recommend using that instead of setting up a dual boot (especially if this is your primary machine).

That was my first plan. Courtesy of my new build, I now have an old Dell that I was going to run Mint on. But I only have one set of KVM and I quickly realised it will become a pain to crawl around under the desk on a regular basis switching cables over.... I'm too miserly to invest in a KVM Switch, so I arrived at dual-boot, even though it's not my preferred solution.

Or, use VirtualBox and set the OS up as a virtual machine. This way, nothing destructive would happen.

I've had a quick look on the VirtualBox website. This could solve my problem very nicely. Thanks for pointing me in this direction! Only down-side is that the user manual for VirtualBox is 232 pages long!

[Force Flow]

You mostly likely will only ever see a few pages of that 232 page long manual