also sprach Joerg Johannes (on Sun, 01 Jul 2001 02:09:49PM +0200): > 1.) Just to be sure: > dd if=/dev/zero of=/dev/sda1 > will overwrite any data on sda1 with zeroes, but leave sda2, sda3 and > the mbr untouched?
yes. > 2.) To backup my mbr I do > dd if=/dev/sda of=/flopyy/mbr.sda bs=512 count=1 > and to put it back > dd if=/floppy/mbr.sda of=/dev/sda bs=512 count=2 why count=2 when writing back? count=1 should do. > Will this be enough to get lilo back after windos new install? why not just rerun lilo? > 3.) During all this dd'ing, /dev/sda must be *completely* unmounted? no, /dev/sda1 *should* be unmounted while dd'ing over it. but since you are writing 0's, there's not much else that can break if you'd leave it mounted. but sure, unmount the entire thing! martin; (greetings from the heart of the sun.) \____ echo mailto: !#^."<*>"|tr "<*> mailto:" [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- it's as bad as you think, and they are out to get you.