I crash my system often. How can i rollback to day one just like first installation in Ubuntu 10.04, 10.10, 11.04, 11.10?

Question

I am experimenting my Ubuntu box.

• i was installing 10.04 till 11.10.
• finally want to stay with one version for a while
• already made lot of mess, by building and changing kernel settings and etc..

So, now after messing it up things are not working like it should.

How, can i do?

#rollback 0.

Answer 1

At this point, you should backup any user data, and do a clean (format the disk partitions and everything) install of the version you want.

Next time, you could install a virtual machine like KVM or VirtualBox and do your testing in virtual machines. Or, install the TestDrive application from the Ubuntu software repository, which claims to download an .iso and run it in a virtual machine.

Answer 2

Reinstallation from the ISO is the only way to be sure. Otherwise, you've plenty of settings to reset - this can be done for some packages on a per-package basis, but a reinstallation at this point would be the least painful and most effective method.

• Back up your home directory (to a USB key)
• Get a CD (burn your own from ISO, order one, put on another USB key) for the right version
• Install from scratch
• Put your home directory back

Note - you may find there are subdirectories you want to remove, such as .gnome, and let Ubuntu produce its own defaults, as you may also have unwanted settings in those.

Note 2 - If you've got server side stuff (/srv, or other things), you'll need to back up more than the home dirs.