Version I use has reached "end of life"

[gaitedlady]

and my computer is prompting me to upgrade. The daughter who set up my laptop is now in the military (OTS) and I don't have access to her. I can't call her right now, and I have a few questions.

The current version I use is 11.10, and I've loved it. Here are my questions:

1. I don't know which version I should upgrade to. I'm an author, so I have a great deal of reference bookmarks, professional contacts, and the books that I'm currently working on, saved on this laptop (but my books, and all my music and personal photos, are also backed up on in a cloud and on my external terabyte drive.) I do not do any spreadsheets, charts, or anything like that. I write fiction.

2. If I upgrade will I lose any information on this laptop? All my important information is backed up as of last night. But I seem to remember my daughter doing this once before and other than the user interface looking different, all my information was still on the laptop.

3. I never did learn how to back up all my bookmarks. I really cannot afford to lose my research links. Will my bookmarks folder go empty again? Is there a way to save those links?

If someone can please reply, I would be most appreciative. I have two more months before the darling daughter will come home for a few days before leaving me again for another training facility in another part of the country. Currently Ubuntu is prodding me about two to three times per week, and I expect it will only get more insistent before I have to do something.

Thanks!

Sandy

[SuperFreak]

While someone else will probably help you with these problems I might suggest how to back up bookmarks. If you are using Firefox click on "Bookmarks" (top menu) followed by "show all bookmarks". Then click on "Import and Backup" followed by "backup" and select a place for your backup(external drive maybe) and a file name. You can also save the file as a HTML file (select export to HTML) which may be more universal if you are importing bookmarks into a different browser. You could always do both.

See HERE for the differences between files

[Frogs Hair]

I will address some of these issues and I'm sure others will add their recommendations .

1.Back up everything important to a removable device before proceeding.

2. The operating system will upgrade to 12.04 by default . I don't how that will go because the 11.10 repositories are closed and hopefully the system was up to date before that happened.

3. Most browsers and mail clients allow the export of bookmarks/ contacts which can be saved and imported for later use. Firefox, Chrome and Opera all have sync type services that store browser data on line that you can access on other devices and computers by logging in. If you open unsorted bookmarks in Firefox you will see export and backup on top of the window that opens.

4. Upgrades work well for some and not for others and that is why #1 is so important.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PreciseUpgrades

[souravc83]

I will make another suggestion. Don't upgrade right now. I am living well with 11.10.
Generally, the default upgrade isn't the best, and a fresh install is a better route to go.
Who wants to do that, when 11.10 works fairly well for what I do.

Of course, if you need something in particular, go for it. Or if you're excited about the new features in 12.04, go for it.
You can probably wait for your daughter to come and set it up.

[monkeybrain2012]

I think it is probably a better idea to back up your important data and do a clean install instead of an upgrade. Upgrade seems to be problematic for many people.

Here is a detailed tutorial
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/installing

Download the 12.04 LTS iso(instead of 13.04) it has long supported peroid so you don't have to worry about reinstalling for another 4 years. http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop
The drop down box is defaulted to 32 bit, but you may want 64 bit. To determine which one you are currently running so you can down load the right iso, open a terminal and type

uname -m

If the output is i686 then it is 32 bit, if it is x86_64 then you would want the 64 bit iso.

[uRock]

If you want a secure system, then upgrade.

The best way to back up Firefox, if that is what you mean by bookmarks, then copy .mozilla to external media. .mozilla is a hidden file within your /home folder. To unhide hidden files open the folder then hit Ctrl+H. This will have your bookmarks, history, addons, and saved passwords.

[monkeybrain2012]

I will make another suggestion. Don't upgrade right now. I am living well with 11.10.
Generally, the default upgrade isn't the best, and a fresh install is a better route to go.
Who wants to do that, when 11.10 works fairly well for what I do.

Of course, if you need something in particular, go for it. Or if you're excited about the new features in 12.04, go for it.
You can probably wait for your daughter to come and set it up.

Well you are not getting security updates and it may be risky if you go online.

[gaitedlady]

Well you are not getting security updates and it may be risky if you go online.

I do go online... It's necessary for my business. Which is why I have to do something, and I think the prompts to upgrade are annoying enough now that I am concerned about security.

I've copied .mozilla and my bookmarks over to the external terabyte drive and backed up my active manuscripts and all the research data folders that accompany them. Since I'm not sure how long upgrading will take or how much bandwidth it will use (I'm on satellite internet,) I'll begin my upgrade download at 2 a.m. when I have my free download window.

Now I have a question about Rhythmbox.... Will that still be on the computer, or will it and all my music need to be reloaded? I don't remember what the darling daughter did when she upgraded me a few years ago, and since I can't just call her to ask, I'm hoping you ladies and gentlemen don't mind me asking.

Thanks a bunch! I really appreciate your help!
Sandy

[Dennis N]

If you are upgrading with the update-manager, your applications and data (including your music) should be retained. Versions of applications will be replaced by newer ones. You must back up your data to be safe with this method.

The prompts to upgrade that are annoying you could have been disabled, but it looks like you are going ahead with your upgrade.

For what it's worth, my preference in upgrading is to keep the existing O.S. until I am sure the newer one is working for me without problems. This can be done by doing a new install of the new version side-by-side with the existing version - called dual boot. Later, you can remove the old one if desired after all your data has been moved over.

If you think about it, if you kept your system up to date, it is more secure now than any time since you installed it because security bugs have been fixed all along.

[monkeybrain2012]

If you think about it, if you kept your system up to date, it is more secure now than any time since you installed it because security bugs have been fixed all along.

Point is that her system cannot be kept up to date because 11.10 has reached end of life.