BHead

BHead is a simple tool that reads a specified number of bytes from a file or byte stream and writes them to standard output. While this task is not complex, the problems that this tool can solve can be. One such problem is that Unix systems running on Intel based PC architecture hardware can be infected with boot sector viruses. Unix systems do not have a convenient way to read just the boot sector for scanning. Using the Unix dd command the entire raw disk drive can be read and output as a byte stream. Scanning the entire drive would be a redundant waste of time; however, using BHead, the byte stream can be cut to just the portion of the drive that contains the boot sector. BHead can also operate on files, floppies and tapes.

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