back up installation?

[hgjybrandon]

hi , unfortunaly ububtu 10.10 crashed on both my laptops, and there too old to run 11.04, on my desktop there's ubutnu 10.10, can i backup the files on my desktop and install them on my laptop?.. as an os, and everything?
- helps is needed, and valued-

[Hedgehog1]

You have several options for reinstalling 10.10.

Using your 10.10 LiveCD/LiveUSB, you can boot youR laptop from it and then copy data your data from your laptop to an external hard drive or large USB stick.

OR - When you are booted from the LiveCD/LineUSB, you can try accessing your Desktop using the network. If you can reach it, you could copy yours files to the desktop that way.

OR - Another option is to use a separate '/home' partition on your laptop, so you can reinstall without hurting your data. If you have your data in a separate '/home' partition you can reinstall 11.04 over your 10.10 '/' partition and be sure to not format the '/home' partition:

First, define your '/' (root) partition:

http://img31.imageshack.us/img31/7520/04allocdrivespace2.png

http://img130.imageshack.us/img130/9673/05allocdrivespace3.png

Then define your '/home' partition:

IF YOU ARE DOING AN UPGRADE OR A REINSTALL, DO NOT FORMAT THIS PARTITION!

http://img202.imageshack.us/img202/6828/07allocdrivespace5.png

This separates your documents and 'stuff' from the system files and 'stuff' in the '/' partition.

The Hedge

:KS

p.s. To learn how to move your '/home' into it's own partition: SeparateHomePartition (http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/separatehome)

[hgjybrandon]

thank you, what program do i use to back up the files on a usb?

[Hedgehog1]

If you boot from an Ubuntu LiveCD/LiveUSB, and select 'TRY', you get a fully function Ubuntu install.

From this you can run Nautilus from the 'Places' menu:

http://img546.imageshack.us/img546/5255/screenshotnatu.png

And copy your files from the hard disk to your external disk.

The Hedge

:KS