On 02/22/2016 06:36 AM, Kynn Jones wrote: > My system is badly damaged, and it looks like the only way to fix it > is to do a full re-install. > > I figure I will have to back everything up to an external drive, > reformat the hard drive, and install everything from scratch. > > But I thought I'd ask if there's anything close to this that would not > require backing up everything and reformatting the hard disk. > Wouldn't it be possible, for example, to boot the system up from a > live CD, and reinstall the base system, leaving /home untouched? (I > should mention that the hard disk in question is just one big > partition, including /home and everything else.) > > Thanks in advance! > > kj > >
You can certainly do it but I am not sure you want! First of all you would have to move your /home to a new partition (to the same disk or another) and you would need to start from a Live CD/USB in order to do this step. Of course if you don't have another HD available then you would have to partition the disk which is risky for your data which you would have to backup elsewhere etc Next is the new installation procedure where you will eventually connect the new system with the old /home. However let me note that some of the problems of your current installation may live inside /home which means that you will still have to deal with them. The /home folder contains not only your data but also various settings files for your applications. So, as I said, you can certainly do it but I am not sure you want! Another approach would be to start a new thread (or more!) on this helpful list in order to try to solve your system's problems. Of course you can always re-install and start from scratch but how can you be sure you will not end on the same position after a while. Dalios
