time to upgrade

**Phil Binner** · October 18th, 2013

Hi

I just upgraded to 13.10 . i would like to say that it took an unreasonably long time. I was asked if I wanted to update, and I said yes. I went away and came back, expecting an updated computer, and it asked me again; and again; and again....... Granted, the questions were not all the same, but they were the same old, same old.. It took me almost 24 hours to complete the operation, coming back several times to find the machine still at it when I wanted to work. I do not want to sit and watch the upgrade, so next time can you please ask all the questions up front and let me go away till it's finished.

Just a thought

**rihikz** · October 18th, 2013

Hi. My upgrade took like 2 hours. I'm pretty sure I was asked a single file replacement question. This is probably related to the way you have been using your previous version. Although I do agree, that the upgrade installer should make these decisions itself.

**david98** · October 18th, 2013

my upgrade took almost 3 hours and then just crashed on me when i rebooted it caused problems with grub. So i started with a fresh install took less than half an hour but work's like a dream nust like it should took a little while getting my programmes back. I should of done what it say's in this link http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=819396 but i was just an eager beaver to get started will definitely do it.

**varunendra** · October 19th, 2013

Hi Phil ! Nice to see you after such a long time.

I think all the newer versions offer the option to "Upgrade" if you boot with their Live DVD/USB and have a previous supported version installed.

It is also quite often recommended to do a fresh install instead of upgrading. Because if you are using anything other than what comes from default repositories, especially proprietary drivers, the upgrade will be much prone to failure from which it is sometimes impossible to recover.

So considering the above two things, I think it is best to download the ISO, burn a DVD or create a live usb with it, then boot into a live session and test it to see if it work nicely with your system. This offers you threefold advantage -

1) You can test the new version without risking the current installation.
2) You can choose to upgrade from the same disc. (although not very sure if the upgrade option is available on 13.10, haven't downloaded it yet)
3) You can do a clean install if you wish or if the upgrade fails.

**cariboo** · October 19th, 2013

This isn't a support request. Moved

**craig10x** · October 19th, 2013

Do you only run 1 ubuntu? If you do, i would imagine that the live iso installer should offer you the option to upgrade with just about everything carried over... instead of clean install where it wipes everything out...including your data and programs...

If you have multiple ubuntu's installed from what i hear, the automatic installer does NOT offer that option..

That is what i use...the upgrade on the iso...what it does essentially is the same as a clean install, but carries over most of your programs and should carry over your data with it....
You can read about my experience on this thread: (it's fast too....took 20 minutes not hours because it doesn't use the internet, it's doing right from the iso disc...)

So, if it is available to you...i think it's the best (fastest and most reliable)...

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2181643

**cariboo** · October 19th, 2013

I had updates to previous versions take as much as 4 hours, so for the last several releases, I back up my home directory, do a fresh install, and do a selective restore.

This development cycle, I only did one complete re-install about 5 months ago, so things were getting a little crusty, so for me a fresh install was the best way to go.

**deadflowr** · October 19th, 2013

You could still use the machine to do work, while update goes on.
Ubuntu is actually quite good at that.

I used to think that running programs while the system was upgrading would bork the whole thing up.
But I realize it is designed to let you continue as normal as possible.
If something was to go wrong, the chances are that they would go wrong, whether you had running programs or not.