| /List - Display the partitions listed in the
MBR, their order in the MBR, partition type, size, and whether active or
hidden. The Pos field indicates the order the partitions are laid out on disk,
while MBRndx shows them as they're listed in the MBR.
/Disk=# - Selects the disk to use for all
operations. This switch is always processed first, verifying that all
operations specified on the command line will use the disk specified here. If
not specified, Disk 0 will be used by default.
/Part=# - Selects the
partition to use for all partition based operations. If not specified,
partition '0' will be used by default. All operations use the physical location
of the partition on the disk (the first column in /list), not the MBRndx field
which simply identifies the current position of the partition entry in the
MBR. Certain commands allow the action to be perfomed on all
partitions, in this case /Part=* (asterisk) performs this functionality.
/Sector=# - Selects the sector to use
with sector based operations. Sector 0 (MBR) will be used by default
if not specified.
MBR Options
/Save=filename - Saves
the current MBR to a file, where filename is the path+filename used to store
the file. Specifying /Sector=# on the command line will
save the sector # specified rather than the MBR (Sector
0). Additionally, specifying /sector=head will save
the entire first head to file.
/Restore=filename - Reads an MBR file from
filename, where filename is an existing path+filename containing the
backed up contents of the MBR sector. Optionally, specifying the /Sector=#
parameter will restore the file to sector
# rather than 0 (MBR). Additionally, the entire first
head will be resotred if the specified file contains 64 sectors.
/Repair=# - Designed to fix a damaged, corrupt,
or missing MBR. Specifying an option of '1' will repair a
PE/XP/2003 MBR. This may be expanded to other OS formats if the need exists.
/Show=x - Shows the partition structure from a
backed up MBR. Available options for x are a filename,
the sector number containing the backup, or the word SECTOR if the
contents have been previously saved to the hidden sector.
/Wipe=x - Selecting an option of 'mbr'
will wipe the MBR clean, 'head' will wipe the first head or 63
sectors, and a range of sectors from x to y can be wiped by specifying
/Wipe=x-y. This will effectively remove all information from
the specified sectors of the disk.
/Sort - It isn’t uncommon for the partition
entries in the MBR to be unsorted after reinstalling Windows or restoring a
Ghost image. This means that the partition order in the MBR
won't match the order on disk. Normally this wasn’t a problem until
Windows NT/2K/XP came along with its new boot loader, and the requirement that
each partition entry in the boot.ini must point to the actual partition number.
This option will sort the entries in the MBR to match their physical order on
disk.
/IsSorted - Queries the partition entry order
in the MBR and returns an ErrorLevel code based on the status of the
partition entries: '0' = Sorted, '1' = Not Sorted
/Signature=x - Reads
or Writes a new disk signature to the MBR. Specifying 'Zero' will
clear the existing signature, otherwise an 8 digit hex entry can be
entered for the signature. For example, /Signature= Zero, or /Signature=
AC87AD87. Specifying /Signature with no options will display the existing disk
signature.
/Copy=x
- Copies the contents of one sector to another. The
/Sector=x command will specify the source sector, and will be copied to the
sector specified by /Copy. Please note, typically only the
first 64 sectors (0-63) should be used as the destination, otherwise
existing data on the hard disk may be overwritten. Selecting 0 as the
target will overwrite and erase the contents of the MBR.
Partition Entry Options
/Hide=# - Hides or Unhides the
specified partition to the operating system. An option of '1' or 'Yes' will
hide the partition, while selecting '0' or 'No' will set the partition visible.
If /Part=* is specified all partitions will be hidden/unhidden.
/Active=# - Sets the specified partition eithe
active (bootable) or inactive. An option of '1' or 'Yes' will set the partition
active, while an option of '0' or 'No' will set the partition
non-bootable. /Part=* can be selected to set all
partitions inactive. If setting the a hidden partition active, it will
first be unhidden then set active. DOS and Win9x do not properly recognize
multiple visible primary partitions, make certain any remaining primary
partitions are unhidden if necessary.
/Type=# - Allows the
partition type to be modified. This is most useful if a partitioning or
backup/restore program modifies the partition type and it needs to be restored
back to the original type. The # specified must be directly
followed by either a d (decimal) or h (hexadecimal) in order to
properly identify the new type. This option must be used with /Partition
in order to identify the partition being modified.
/Del - Deletes the specified partition.
Specifying /Part=* removes all partitions on selected disk,
while specifying both /Disk=* /Part=* removes
all partitions on all disks
The following items have been removed in order to remain OS independant, but
will shortly be included in a new application.
/Mount=x: - Mounts selected volume with a
specified drive letter. 'x:' identifies the drive letter to use for the
mount. The desired partition to mount can be selected either by /Part=#
or /Vol=label
/UnMount=x - UnMounts the drive letter from the
selected volume. 'x' identifies the partition #, volume label, or
drive letter (x:) for the volume to unmount.
/Label=x
- Modifies the Volume Label. The new label is identified by
'x', and the correct volume is specified by either /Part or /Vol.
Miscellaneous Options
/Shutdown=# -An entry of '1' will force Windows
to shutdown, '2' will force Windows to shutdown and reboot. '3'
shuts down without force, and '4' reboots without force. Note, using the Force
options may cause data loss if open programs contain unsaved data.
NT/2K/XP/2003 version only.
/WipeDisk=# - Wipes
(overwrites) each sector on the disk in order to securely erase all data.
Selecting an option of '1' write zeros to all sectors. Additional
methods coming. Wiping the System partition (C: drive) is not
recommended under Windows as it will effectively crash Windows with a
BSOD! This option is currently only available under the Windows version,
but will be expanded to DOS and Linux in the future.
/Status=x - Stores or Retrieves
the status byte located at offset 0x1b0 in the MBR, which is
widely recognized as an unused section of the MBR. Specifying a value for
'x' will set the status byte, valid options are 0-255. Selecting /Status
with no options will return the current byte upon program exit.
/Confirm -
Any operation that performs a change to the MBR will now ask for user
confirmation before making the change. Specifying /confirm on the command
line overrides this request and defaults to Yes for each
operation without prompting.
/BootMenu -This option will list the available,
bootable partitions to the user, and set one active by secting from the
menu
/Msg=# - Hides the status messages shown upon
program exit. An entry of '1' indicates that no messages should be
shown, '2'=No error messages, and '3'=No status messages
displayed on success.
/Ignore - Attempts to continue the specified
operation if an error occurs.
/Result - Displays the return code for visual
verification of success/failure.
/HideErrors - Hides the display of any
errors that may occur. See /Msg.
/? - Show command line options
CommandFile - If no switches are specified on
the command line, and a file by the name of mbrwiz.opt exists in the same
folder as the executable, then the mbrwiz.opt file will be parsed for possible
switches. Switches can be located on the same line, or dispersed across
multiple lines. This option can be used when it's not possible to pass switches
on the commandline. The following is a sample option file to save the disk 1
mbr to hidden sector, then reboot the machine
----------------------------
/disk=1 /save=sector
/shutdown=2
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