Hi,
i want to completely remove and reinstall ubuntu since i get a message "unbuntu 12.04 has an internal error" or something like that. When i click ok it goes away but after a day or so it crashes.

so i want to reinstall ubuntu completely but i have my data on my second internal drive. if i reinstall ubuntu on my first internal drive will i have to reformat my second internal drive where all the data is stored?

i use the first internal drive just for ubuntu OS. i tried google searching this but could not find an answer to this. i saw a lot of ubuntu reinstall without formating the partitioned drive. thanks for ur help and any suggestions or advice in advance.

You should always back up your important data before you install Linux (or any other operating system), just in case a bug in the installer or an error on your part causes the wrong disk to get modified. I use an external hard drive and one of the web-based backup services ( SpiderOak, CrashPlan, etc... ) to back up my stuff. You can also get a relatively cheap USB flash drive and put your data on that, if your data is small enough to fit on it.

You don't need to reformat or reinstall anything on the second hard drive. When you go through the Ubuntu 12.04 installer, on the screen "Allocate drive space" it will have, if I remember correctly, three options "Install Ubuntu 12.04 alongside (other operating systems)", "Erase and use the entire disk", and "Something else". Choose the "Something else" option. In the next screen it will list your hard drives. Select the disk partition where the Ubuntu operating system and programs (but not your files) is currently installed and click the "Change" button. Unless you're doing something unusual, select ext4 for the filesystem and "/" for the mount point, and check the box for "reformat the partition". Accept the changes. Then click "Install Now" and go through the rest of the installer. As long as you selected the correct partition Ubuntu 12.04 will be completely reinstalled and your own files will be left alone.

Good luck.

Thanks a lot Michael. I just wanted to know if the other drives would remain untouched. Will backup either way though. Thanks.

To be really sure just disconnect the disks during install.

A caveat:

If you want to automount your data drive, you'll need to modify it, as well, and mark it with a mount point, such as "/data." If you don't do that, you'll either have to manually edit fstab or mount it every time you want to access it. Just make absolutely sure the "format partition" checkbox is not checked! As Michael said, it's best to back your data up somewhere else, in case of malfunction or user error!

If you want it to automount at boot time, it's much easier to do it during installation rather than edit your fstab file.

Thanks folks. I was thinking of unplugging the hard drive too but it was fine without unplugging. I had trouble reinstalling ubuntu 12.04, it kept crashing and googling revealed lot of people had the same issue. What are the stable linux distro's u guys would recommend? i ended up putting xubuntu for now and it seems buggy too. once in a while it says some internal error occurred or something. thinking of doing another reinstall tonight.

thanks for letting me know about the auto mount -kg. i always did it manually. if i mount it as /data then it would no longer be under /media? so next time i call it, it will be /data/"drive"?

Actually, you can set the mount point as anything you want, except for the obvious, like "/", "/home", "/usr", and the like. If it was "/media" before, I suppose you could have set it as such, though I'm not absolutely sure about that. If I recall correctly, I've found several types of 'drives' under /media before. I gave "/data", since you stated you had your data on the drive.

Seriously, I've found 12.04 to leave a bit to be desired, especially for a release that's supposed to be an LTS release. 11.10 worked like a charm, but I've had a whole lot of trouble with 12.04. I'm thinking of trying Xubuntu on my desktop, but at the same time, I'm thinking of "Linux Mint 13 - Mate."

My desktop is old enough that when I tried the Cinnamon version, I had massive display problems, such that all pop-up menus and any software I was able to launch showed only a blue window. I couldn't even use the terminal to reboot. Fortunately, I was on a LiveDVD, so I forced a hard reboot.

I don't know if the problem is up-stream (Debian itself) or not, but it's caused me to consider jumping ship from the Debian line entirely. It's just a sad commentary when an LTS release is less stable than the STS release before it.

I've run (and am running) several other distros, but haven't tried any of the recent releases. If you decide to try another release, you need to select it according to what you use your computer for and the availability of your particular software titles and their dependencies.

Anymore, other than the standard browser and email, I've been writing extensively, so almost anything that has Open/Libre Office and has the dependencies required by the few related software titles I use would be fine, which covers most all of them.

i agree with you kg, not sure what happened to 12.04 LTS. Xubuntu seems to be running fine for the last 2 days now, i installed linux mint cinnamon on one of my old laptops and i really like it. it works beautiful just as i want except like u mentioned i have minor display issues with the menu only, some of the icons i cannot see when i click the menu but when i move my mouse over there's a dark grey box where the icon is supposed to be and it says below what the icon is. I havent spend any time figuring out what the problem is coz thats the least concern i have right now. i just want to make sure i have a stable, secure n efficient file-sharing server running for the company i work for. havent tried the mate edition. i heard they are more stable than cinnamon never tried it though.

I've now downloaded the MATE edition and checked the checksums. I'll burn it to DVD and see what it looks like on my desktop, if it works at all. By what I could gather from the Mint website, they both are an attempt to emulate Gnome 2.X, with Cinnamon being the "bright and shiny bling-bling" model, and MATE being the lighter weight side that's easier on and compatible with more hardware.

I also downloaded PC-BSD (based on FreeBSD), which will run as a LiveDVD. I don't know if it will work, but it's worth a try. Nice also is the "install once" rolling update updates and upgrades.

Since you mentioned file-sharing server, I'll say that BSD is also an excellent platform for servers, right up there with GNU/Linux. FreeBSD is the most popular and well-supported, but if you are concerned with security, OpenBSD is said to focus more on the security aspects. I've never run it, but I'm open to new things.

The FreeBSD installer, though, is a problem and buggy in itself. At least I failed to get it to install in an extra partition in my system entirely, but maybe you have better luck. I hate to rely on luck, though...

@ JZL - Oh, I'm not about to install BSD of any form on my computer! It's just that PC-BSD has both a LiveCD and a LiveBSD version, and I have a LiveUSB of PC-BSD in my collection. It can be used to access a UFS partition, should the necessity present itself.

There's a major reason why I'm presently not even considering installing it. Apparently, the only wireless encryption protocol it handles is WEP...WPA is not in the selection. Perhaps I'll consider installing it once they bring it out of the "Bronze Age" and closer to the present, but until then, the only use I have for it is as a Live-Tool.

PC-BSD does have a nice DT, though. Too bad I'm not looking for 'pretty'.

gtrrockz84 said: " i have minor display issues " with Mint Cinnamon. I would recommend that for your older laptop try Mint 13 Mate instead of Cinnamon.
I had both installed, and I eventually decided on Mate because it is more stable.