Re: restoring MBR
On Mon, 01 Aug 2011 07:06:09 -0400 (EDT), Camaleón wrote:
>
> If you add encryption to the equation things can be even worst.
I assume you mean "worse". I agree. I hate full-volume encryption.
>
> While I agree that "playing" (backing and restoring) with MBR can be
> dangerous I also think that having no previous copy is equally bad. I'm
> not aware of any data loss for just making a backup of the MBR at install
> time. Restoring is another thing but if you have a copy of the original
> MBR at least you have something to test (or to compare) with.
I would never advise someone not to make a backup. I'm just saying that
the restore process is not as straightforward as one might think.
Not all users know that restoring the entire MBR will also back-level
the partition table.
Another thing to keep in mind is that boot loaders such as grub
(either version), when installed to the MBR, take up more than one
sector. I'm not sure how many, but it's at least two. A proper
restore may require restoring more than one sector, yet not restoring
the partition table. There is no substitute for knowing the right
way to backup and the right way to restore, depending on the conditions.
--
.''`. Stephen Powell
: :' :
`. `'`
`-
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