So here are 8 free tools that can help you to easily backup and restore your system’s Master Boot Record (MBR) for some extra piece of mind. This could save hours of frustration trying to recover your files from damaged partitions. And being only 512 bytes in size means it takes up no room at all and can be stored anywhere.
#Easy recovery portable install
Or you can use a Windows 7 install disc and select the “Repair your computer” -> Command Prompt option with the Bootrec /fixmbr command which also works on Vista and Windows 8 from the Windows 7 disc.Īs the Master Boot Record is such a vital part of your system, it makes sense to have a backup of it just in case the worst happens.
If your system has a standard disc layout, it’s always possible to write a new standard MBR using the Windows XP Recovery Console and the FixMBR command.
If your Master Boot Record becomes corrupted through drive errors or malware etc, it could stop you booting your operating system and in the worst case, cause all the partitions on the drive to be lost because the drive doesn’t have the correct information to identify them. The MBR area itself is tiny being only a 512 byte sector and is the very first piece of information held right at the beginning of the disc. For those that aren’t exactly sure what the MBR is, it’s basically a small dedicated section of the drive which holds vital information about the disc including its boot information and the layout of all the partitions stored. The Master Boot Record (MBR) is quite possibly the most important piece of data stored on you hard drives or USB flash drives.