Compatibility with Advanced Disk Format HDD

[sampahnetgua]

I just got WD20EARX 2TB with 4k-sector format.
As I understand, this new format drive needs special software support from partitioning utilties to ensure proper alignment.
But what about other partition & MBR-related utilities like partition recovery software, MBR backup utilities ? Do they also need special support for this new hdd format ?
Currently I'm using this drive for storage & data, so I'm thinking of backing up the MBR for safety, just in case some problem with the partition table, etc.
I've seen MBRTool, MBRWizard for this purpose, but I couldn't tell anywhere whether I can safely use them to backup & restore the MBR for this new format drive. Are they compatible ?

PS:
When I backup MBR, does it always include partition table ?

 

[razel]

Those tools you mentioned for MBRs and partition tables are primarily for data recovery specialists. If you really know what your doing, they can save alot of headache. I understand file systems and I only use those tools when trying to recover partitions that testdisk can't fully repair.

You should be looking at a image or clone backup. Western Digital provides free software that can check for alignment. Once it's aligned use your favorite backup tool to preserve it. Win7's built-in image backup is very basic, but gets the job done.

 

[BFG10K]

I just got WD20EARX 2TB with 4k-sector format.
As I understand, this new format drive needs special software support from partitioning utilties to ensure proper alignment.

Only on XP; Vista & 7 natively support this format and automatically align things when you use their built-in Disk Manager.