How to install a fresh Cinnamon Mint 17.1 without destroying your Mint 17 programs preferences.
This will install a fresh Cinnamon Mint 17.1 without destroying your Mint 17 program preferences, showing you how to reinstall your programs. This method will let you keep all your program preferences saving you hours of work re-setting up your new OS.
- First Backup up your Cinnamon Mint 17 OS before you do anything. Just in case things go horrible wrong.
- Make a Bootable USB stick or burn a DVD with either the 32 or 64 bit version of Mint 17.1 (Depends on your computer)
- Boot back into your Mint 17 OS and from your Menu go to Administrator and select Backup Tool
- Now select Backup software selection
- Select the Destination: drop down box and select your home directory
- Select Forward then Apply
- You have just backed up all the programs that are installed in your system
- Now open your Home directory with Nemo file manager
- Find the file you just created in your Home Directory EXP: software_selection_m17-cinn-64@2014-12-02-0753-package.list
- Double Click on it, this should open the file
- Now do a search for linux- and delete all those entries
- When done, make sure you don’t have any blank lines.
- Now Save the file
- Next you need to copy the fstab file in case you have setup a Data drive
- Copy and Paste the following in a Terminal Window cp /etc/fstab /home/bob Don’t forget to change your Home Directory Name from bob to yours.
Now you are ready to install your new copy of Mint 17.1
Insert your USB stick or DVD you made to boot from and boot into the Live Distro OS
If your on a laptop, make sure you connect your WiFi first thing. Once that’s done:
Double Click on the Install Icon on the Desktop and start the install process.
Install Linux Mint
If you are happy that you have adequately backed up your Windows files and any other important files and you are suitably pleased with the Linux Mint live run then now you can install Linux Mint.
Boot into the live version of Linux Mint 17.1
Click on the install icon on the desktop.
Choose your installation language and click “Continue”.
- You will be asked to connect to your wireless network. This is optional and to be honest I always choose not to connect. The installer will use your internet connection to download updates as it goes which means when you boot Linux Mint 17 for the first time after installation it will be completely up to date.If you have a slow internet connection this can take ages and if your connection drops then it is hard to know the state of your installation. I prefer to get the installation done first and then apply updates later.Select your preferred option and click “Continue“.
- The next steps shows you how well prepared you are for installing Linux Mint. If you have three green ticks then you are good to go. (The only one you really have to worry about is disk space and if you are not using a power source make sure your battery is charged).Click “Continue“.
- The next step is very important. You basically get three choices when it comes to installing Linux Mint:a. Install Linux Mint alongside Windows
a. Install Linux Mint alongside Windows
b. Erase disk and Install Linux Mint
c. Something else For this installation I will be advocating choosing the option “Something Else”.
- The “Something Else” c. option allows you to choose how to partition your disks and because of this you can choose NOT to Format your Home partition so data stays intact.
- Now select your Root partition and then select Change
6. Where it says New Partition Size, leave it along. This is your old Root partition and your just formatting over it, not changing the size. Where it says Use As: select Ext4 journaling file system, now make sure Format the partition is selected and last where it says Mount Point: select / this is the root symbol.
7. Where it says New Partition Size, leave it along. This is your old Home partition and your not changing it’s size. Where it says Use As: select Ext4 journaling file system, now make sure Format the partition is NOT selected and last where it says Mount Point: select /home . Again make sure the Formant check box is NOT selected. You don’t want to format over all you programs you already have installed.
8. Now select Install Now and continue through till the install starts. Make sure you use the Same User Name and Password when prompted for the information. You can not change it from the old setup, your Home directory has permissions that are set by the User Name and Password.
9. After your all done with the install, you will need to reboot making sure you remove the Live CD or USB stick you used to install your new OS.
10. Once you have re-booted and your in your new OS, it’s now time to re-install all the programs you already had installed from your old OS. From your Menu go to Administrator and select Backup Tool. Now select Restore software selection then navigate to your home directory and select the software backup file you created early and select Forward or Apply. You now have all your software restored and all your preferences are preserved.
If you have any questions, please go to the Contact Me section of my website.
I hope that you Backed up up your Cinnamon Mint 17 OS before you do anything. Just in case things go horrible wrong.
Here is a link to Upgrade to Mint 17.1 without installing it all over again. This is from the Linux Mint Team. Backup your system before you try this. I mean it.
Enjoy