HDHACKER - MBR/BootSector Backup-Restore

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by Aaron Here, Sep 4, 2010.

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  1. Aaron Here

    Aaron Here Registered Member

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    HDHacker - Free MBR/BootSector Backup-Restore

    Imho, HDHacker is the very best free MBR/BootSector backup-restore utility available. :thumb:

    HDHacker is a stand-alone micro-utility that saves, visualizes, and restores the MBR (from a physical drive), the BootSector (from a logical drive) or any specified sector from any disk (including removable disks). HDHacker can be also be used to save and restore a particular boot manager before a new Windows setup (which, obviously, overwrites it).

    An MBR and BootSector backup can also be useful for simple precautionary purposes, since sometimes viruses or another OS setup (like Linux) could overwrite and/or alter Windows' MBR/BootSector, preventing Windows from starting-up and/or accessing data stored on the disk. HDHacker can provide "insurance" against all these types of loss.

    Direct download: http://digilander.libero.it/dimio/hdhacker.zip

    You also might want to checkout some of the other nice free utilities on this site:

    Home website: http://dimio.altervista.org/eng/
     
    Last edited: Sep 5, 2010
  2. Jo Ann

    Jo Ann Registered Member

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    Aaron,

    Let me be the first to say 'thanks' for bringing this nifty free utility to our attention. It works really well. :thumb:

    JA
     
  3. bgoodman4

    bgoodman4 Registered Member

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    I 2nd that, thanks.
     
  4. dantz

    dantz Registered Member

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    I went to the website and I saw no mention of boot disks. How would you use HDHacker to restore the MBR of a non-booting system?
     
  5. Aaron Here

    Aaron Here Registered Member

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    Good question dantz. The thing is it requires Windows to run so if you can't boot into your XP/Vista/7 you'll need another way in before you can use it to restore your MBR or Boot-Sector.

    For situations like this I use UBCD4Win - this is freeware and it contains many useful tools (but any BartPE/WinPE on CD or USB flashdrive will do). Once you have booted into UBCD4Win (or another WinPE) you can easily navigate to HDHacker on your hard drive and run it (it can even be run directly from the WinPE disc as HDHacker is a portable app).

    I also use this boot method to run various PC utilities, such as making a backup image of my C-partition and (most importantly) to restore it. Imho, a WinPE boot disc is invaluable!

    Hth,
    Aaron
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2010
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