In the above command, /path-to-save/mbr-backup is the path where you want to save mbr-backup. You only need one command to backup the MBR: dd if=/dev/sda of=/path-to-save/mbr-backup bs=512 count=1 You can backup the MBR since it’s stored on the hard disk and you restore it later, when needed. It can be damaged by certain viruses that target the MBR to replace it with their own code or in cases when you dual boot with a Linux distribution (see Error: no such partition. All Windows versions – Windows XP, Vista, 7 or 8 – use MBR and, if damaged you won’t be able to boot. If the MBR is damaged, you won’t be able to boot into Windows. It’s the first 512 bytes of your hard disk. The Master boot record is created when you first install Windows, on the first partition you create. The MBR (stands for “Master boot record”) is a boot sector (a region of your hard disk) that holds information about the partitions of your hard drive and acts as a loader for the operating system you’re running.

2 Fix the MBR with Easy Recovery Essentials.

Bootrec rebuildbcd element not found