[OT] my hard drive was murdered!

[volvoguy]

A few new tidbits of info to add. If this is really bothering anybody,
let me know and I'll take it off-list with anyone that can help.

I found a newer "Western Digital Data Lifeguard" CD laying around -
Version 11.1. The utilities on the disc recognized the drive, but said
that it didn't appear to be formatted - which I suspect is because
there doesn't appear to be a MBR anymore. I had been using Grub as a
boot manager and it was installed in the MBR. Here's a few details
that may or may not help the troubleshooting:

Drive Model: WDC W1600JB-00EVA0
Serial Number: WD-WMAEK2512747
Firmware: 15.05R1

The WD disc has a utility to backup or restore the MBR - but I didn't
know you could even do that, so I don't have a backup. Is there a way
with either Ubuntu or Windows to only go through enough of the install
to write a new MBR?  I'm guessing no with Windows, as that disc didn't
even acknowledge that the hard drive existed.

My web access is somewhat limited without my main computer, so if
anyone feels like poking around Google for me, that might help too. :)

Thanks again,

Aaron