# boot from liveubuntu usb drive (8G)
# dd from liveusb terminal

# Is the usb disk mounted properly?
ls /media/natdawg/Seagate\ Expansion\ Drive/ubuntu.restore/
mount | grep media

sudo dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/media/natdawg/Seagate\ Expansion\ Drive/ubuntu.restore/sda1_boot.img bs=64K conv=noerror,sync status=progress
sudo dd if=/dev/sda2 of=/media/natdawg/Seagate\ Expansion\ Drive/ubuntu.restore/sda2_ubuntu.img bs=64K conv=noerror,sync status=progress
sudo sgdisk --backup=/media/natdawg/Seagate\ Expansion\ Drive/ubuntu.restore/sda_gptheaderonly.img /dev/sda

#Remember Boot efi 100mb. Swap partition 8g.  Win first MBR, then Ubuntu GRUB restore at install time 

# dd if=/dev/sda of=/media/natdawg/Seagate\ Expansion\ Drive/ubuntu.restore/sda_mbronly.img bs=512 count=1 <-msMBR only
# 500mb is a very large efi partition in the future you should set 100mb
# (00:59:43) tomreyn: before running these commands (dd / sgdisk) you need to ensure that the block device names match (they can differ while you're in the live environment), and you need to ensure that the target file system is properly mounted

# Assuming you use a GPT partition table, then you can use the tool sgdisk to backup your GPT header and partition table:
# sgdisk --backup=<file> <device>
# To restore the backup use:
# sgdisk --load-backup=<file> <device>
# To simply list the partition table use:
# gdisk -l <device>