7.04 (Feisty) apt get removed aptget and some essential packages

[L473ncy]

It seems I may have removed gnome and a few other essential packages when I did:


sudo apt-get install -f

I am now without a GUI desktop and I can only load into the "terminal". It also seems like I've removed apt-get since I can't do "sudo apt-get install apt" (doesn't recgonize apt-get)

Is there a way to fix this without destroying the partition and reinstalling the whole thing?

I really don't know what went wrong. I was only trying to install g++ and update my programs.

I'm running Ubuntu 7.04 (Feisty) x64 edition BTW.

I know, I know don't run things unless you know what you're doing but from all the research I did (just googled it and everyone seemed to be saying to do it to fix something) I thought it was safe to run that command and fix my files. Is there a repair option on the LiveCD or some other way I could repair the OS without destroying the partition? Really, destroying the partition and reinstalling is my LAST option (I really should have backed up my files and settings...).

HELP!

[Partyboi2]

Feisty has reached its end of life so you would probably be better off to bite the bullet and do a clean install of a later version.
You can backup your important stuff by booting a Ubuntu live cd and copying your stuff to another medium.

[L473ncy]

Rgr that.

So all I have to do is connect my external drive, copy all the files I need and do a clean install?

So now I guess it goes down to choosing an install... Hardy, Intrepid, or Jaunty.

I'm really not sure which to use. Hardy is an LTS version so might be good in that way (I don't know if that affects me in any way though). Intrepid seems to be the latest "stable" release and Jaunty seems to have a lot of bugs and issues with it. So which one does everyone recommend I go with?

EDIT: I should also add that I need to do this in a way that preserves the HD structure I have currently. I'm running a Linux and XP install on a single drive (partitioned) instead of using dual HDD's. I CANNOT lose my XP install period. (Yeah I know stupid idea...)

[Partyboi2]

So all I have to do is connect my external drive, copy all the files I need and do a clean install? Yes


I'm really not sure which to use. Hardy is an LTS version so might be good in that way (I don't know if that affects me in any way though). Intrepid seems to be the latest "stable" release and Jaunty seems to have a lot of bugs and issues with it. So which one does everyone recommend I go with?
I would suggest hardy as its LTS and when the next LTS comes out you can upgrade straight to it without having upgrade to all the other in between releases.
Another advantage as well is, you can wait longer before having to upgrade again.

[L473ncy]

Final question I hope.

Is there some special procedure to do a clean install? Obviously just writing over the partition would seem to be easiest since I already have a Swap, primary, and whatever the other partition is.

Is there a walk through on how to do a clean install over another Ubuntu OS, with an XP partition on the disk? Last time I tried to install Ubuntu I screwed up the XP partition somehow (good thing I was only configuring my new computer and there wasn't any files on the disk)...

Is it as easy as booting into the LiveCD and selecting the install option to write over the original Ubuntu install (7.04)?

[Partyboi2]

When you get to the partitioning stage of the install choose the "manual" option then select your ext3 root partition and set the mount point to / again and tick the box to format it. If you have your /home on its own partition you will need to set the mount point for it to /home again but do not tick the format box.

[L473ncy]

OK.... first I need to figure out how to gain root access on the Live CD...

I'm trying to copy my files over to the external HD but he problem is that it appears that it's locked and I need root access to be able to paste the files onto it.

I know I should use a command like:


sudo cp ...

but I don't know what to type in.

here's what I tried already:


sudo cp /media/disk-1/home/username /media/External Hard Drive

and it returns this in the terminal window:


cp: omitting directory `/media/disk-1/home/username'

Note that there is whitespace in my External Hard Drives name (it's name is actually "External Hard Drive" should I put "%20" in between the whitespaces or something?

[stwschool]

Nope, you just need to quote the location if it's got a space in it. So /media/External Hard Drive would become "/media/External Hard Drive" and you're set.

[L473ncy]

... Bump???

Still not solved. I'm also taking summer school right now (just one course but it's quite intense). I think if I can't solve this in the next little while I'll leave it open and come back to it in June.

I'm still having problems with the copying....

let me get this straight though just incase I'm doing something really obviously stupid...

is the correct command


sudo cp <source> <destination>

Cause yeah that's not working and I also need "root privileges" to actually do any copying from the internal HD to the external drive apparently. I really don't know what's wrong here...

[Partyboi2]

Use the -R option when copying the files over so that it copies the directories recursively.

sudo cp -R <source> <destination>