linux ubuntu help resetting computer to a new state
Linux - NewbieThis Linux forum is for members that are new to Linux.
Just starting out and have a question?
If it is not in the man pages or the how-to's this is the place!
Notices
Welcome to LinuxQuestions.org, a friendly and active Linux Community.
You are currently viewing LQ as a guest. By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics, receive our newsletter, use the advanced search, subscribe to threads and access many other special features. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today!
Note that registered members see fewer ads, and ContentLink is completely disabled once you log in.
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us. If you need to reset your password, click here.
Having a problem logging in? Please visit this page to clear all LQ-related cookies.
Get a virtual cloud desktop with the Linux distro that you want in less than five minutes with Shells! With over 10 pre-installed distros to choose from, the worry-free installation life is here! Whether you are a digital nomad or just looking for flexibility, Shells can put your Linux machine on the device that you want to use.
Exclusive for LQ members, get up to 45% off per month. Click here for more info.
linux ubuntu help resetting computer to a new state
hi so i have an issue with my computer and im thinking of starting again as if it was completely new. Im not sure how it will work though, so if anyone could walk me through it id appreciate it, im a newb too so really simple walk through would help haha. Also will this work to reset everything on my pc, like it was a new pc? thanks for the help
umm, the issue is with drivers and i just have a lot of junk on my pc, and im not good with linux so dont know how to unistall/delete a lot of files etc. but i have an issue with my drivers and no idea what the issue is and how to solve it. i have an issue where i cant run the game minecraft, apparently its something to do with opengl, no clue what that is and i dont know how to solve it so my best bet was to factory reset? haha
OpenGL has to do with your Video hardware and you may just need to update the driver.
However, if you looking to do a complete clean up a factory reset may be the best way to go. Before you go down that road, can you post some information on make and model of PC, operating system, was the operating system a custom install or did it come as is?
Most likely whoever you got the computer from formatted the computer's hard drive in order to install Ubuntu. The "Factory Reset" options that are usually available for HP desktops would not be available.
Best recommendation I can could provide you with would be to upgrade your operating system to the latest version of Ubuntu and hope for the best. Realize, worst case scenario is your computer is rendered unusable. Best case is the latest version has a better chance of detecting your existing hardware. In the event your video card is an nVidia brand, you may still need to run the "restricted" drivers command to properly update the video driver, but "the odds may ever be in your favor".
If you have any personal files, definitely get you files backed up before proceeding. Read through the following and let me know. If you have any other questions. Hope you have a decent internet connection.
oh, okay, well everytime i go to update it tells me theres an internet issue when theres really not, i stay connected 24/7 so not really sure whats wrong with it, i just think my pc is completely broken haha
If Ubuntu is the only OS on that computer, then it may be easier to just do a clean new install of Ubuntu. Just backup everything you want to save to a external drive or usb-stick, and go for it.
Warning! Everything will be lost, so make sure you backup everything you want to save for later....
okay look nothing is working, should i just factory reset it? because its starting to get annoying and i dont mind resetting the whole thing tbh, i dont have anything important on here
okay look nothing is working, should i just factory reset it? because its starting to get annoying and i dont mind resetting the whole thing tbh, i dont have anything important on here
What we are saying is that it's not sure you will be able to do a factory reset. If the person you got the pc from has formatted the drive an installed Ubuntu on it, chances are that he also has removed the recovery partition.
If not, then you probably are going to do a factory reset back to WINDOWS...
Instead, just download Ubuntu and burn it to a cd, or dd it to a stick, and boot from it. The isntall is pretty straight forward.
A "factory reset" will put the computer in the state it was when it left the factory. If it is an HP, then it almost certainly came with some version of windows pre-installed. If you still have a Recovery partition on the drive and you have the Recovery CD created, you may be able to do this, reset to a windows install. Pretty unlikely. Before anyone could give you a specific suggestion on the possibilities, we would need to know the drive/partition information.
You mention a problem with drivers but drivers for what?
Quote:
i dont know how to update through terminal
Click the Dash icon in the upper left of the desktop. It is the circular Ubuntu logo. There is a search box there. Type terminal and when you see the icon for a terminal, click it. Then copy/past the commands below to update. Ubuntu 12.04 will be supported for two more years. You haven't indicated anything about the hardware, how old/new is it?
Code:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
You should be prompted for your user password after entering each command and hitting the Enter key. Enter that and let it run. If it is not successful, you should get some detailed output on what the problem is which you can post here to get suggestions/help.
umm my computer is about 3/4 years old that i know of. But i put those commands in terminal and got 0 things to newly install and 0 things to upgrade. I dont know anymore, thanks for all the help, im giving up on linux now and gonna buy a new pc anyway, thanks for all the help and suggestions
LinuxQuestions.org is looking for people interested in writing
Editorials, Articles, Reviews, and more. If you'd like to contribute
content, let us know.