From owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Sun Dec 4 18:02:14 2005 Return-Path: X-Original-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Delivered-To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org Received: from mx1.FreeBSD.org (mx1.freebsd.org [216.136.204.125]) by hub.freebsd.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 883C416A41F for ; Sun, 4 Dec 2005 18:02:14 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from gaynw@bristolsystems.com) Received: from fed1rmmtao04.cox.net (fed1rmmtao04.cox.net [68.230.241.35]) by mx1.FreeBSD.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id EA15343D45 for ; Sun, 4 Dec 2005 18:02:13 +0000 (GMT) (envelope-from gaynw@bristolsystems.com) Received: from workdog ([68.228.71.3]) by fed1rmmtao04.cox.net (InterMail vM.6.01.05.02 201-2131-123-102-20050715) with ESMTP id <20051204180045.JID17690.fed1rmmtao04.cox.net@workdog>; Sun, 4 Dec 2005 13:00:45 -0500 From: "Gayn Winters" To: "'Javier Matos'" , Date: Sun, 4 Dec 2005 10:02:04 -0800 Message-ID: <005d01c5f8fc$d865e290$6501a8c0@workdog> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Priority: 3 (Normal) X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.4024 In-Reply-To: <000601c5f875$037ec970$0301a8c0@mindcrash> X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 Importance: Normal Cc: Subject: RE: how to copy MBR?? X-BeenThere: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1.5 Precedence: list List-Id: User questions List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , X-List-Received-Date: Sun, 04 Dec 2005 18:02:14 -0000 > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org=20 > [mailto:owner-freebsd-questions@freebsd.org] On Behalf Of Javier Matos > Sent: Saturday, December 03, 2005 5:50 PM > To: freebsd-questions@freebsd.org > Subject: how to copy MBR?? >=20 >=20 > Hi, I will change the hard drive of my computer and I was=20 > thinking that maybe it can run if I make partitions in the=20 > new hard drive (the same number of partitions using the same=20 > device name), copy all the files contained in the old hard=20 > drive to the new one and finally copy MBR from old hard drive=20 > to the new one... . >=20 > Can it be a solution to the problem of changing hard drives=20 > of my computer or that that I tell is a stupid thing?? >=20 Javier, You should do a little reading first. The Handbook has a good section on this, and there are MANY posts on the topic. The bottom line is that a na=EFve copy using dd or cp won't work. (Well, dd will work but assuming your new disk is larger, it won't be optimal.) You are probably better off with a new install on the new disk, and then doing dump and restore to transfer the relevant user data. This is a good time to rethink how your data are stored, and the handbook has a section on rearranging your directories. This is a popular topic and there are any HOWTO's out there that Google will find for you. If you have room physically, using the old disk as an extra drive is something I'd suggest as well. In fact, it makes the dump|restore work particularly well. -gayn