Master Boot Record Clearing

Hello,

This is my first post here, but I've read several threads and everyone seems helpful.
I'm hoping I can find a solution for my situation here.

I recently rebuilt my computer and had to reinstall Windows in response.
When I did the format via the Windows disc, I don't think it cleared the MBR.
I'm not positive on this, but I have a good idea.

Is it possible to clear the MBR and maybe do a clean restore without having to completely reformat the entire drive and start windows from scratch?

If so, would I be able to load an image I made of my hdd recently without it affecting the MBR?


Thanks for the help.

You can rebuild it using Recovery Console.

Is rebuilding enough?
I've had to do that before, can't really remember why, but I know it wasn't hard.
To be more specific, does rebuilding it do something along the lines of "clearing" it and then starting it over but without affecting the installation of windows and therefore interfering with installed applications and such?

The main reason I'm doing this is that I bought a serial for some software after having used a trial, and the trial installer is what I used and kept for installing the app. Well, apparently to prevent people from reusing a trial over and over, the makers of the app built some kind of sneaky code into the app that is embedded into MBR so that you can't just reimage or reinstall the OS to restart the trial. Of course, I didn't know this until after I'd tried to install the app after my reformat with new hardware, and the install failed over and over, prompting me to research why.

I've contacted the makers of the software via several avenues and I haven't been able to get a resolution.

That's odd. I never heard of embedding code in the MBR. What software is it? If you run fixmbr it will write a a new one.

Usually the code that prevents reinstall is located in the registry. Modifying your HD master boot record sounds more like a virus than a security feature.

The software is Adobe Audition.
I'll go ahead and give the fix mbr a try and update.