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I just want to ask what "/" and "/home" means? What if I format my PC and re-install Ubuntu? Does it affect the / and /home directory? I want to protect my files in case Ubuntu crashes and I need to re-install or format. or I will make another partition where I can save my files so it cannot be deleted when I format my pc?

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  • See this Wiki Entry on File System Hierarchy
    – eyoung100
    Sep 15, 2014 at 15:08
  • No problem. All linuxes use some variant of the standard, so learning it will help you know what a directory is used for even if its not quite in the right place.
    – eyoung100
    Sep 15, 2014 at 15:14
  • possible duplicate of creating multiple partitions
    – Rmano
    Sep 15, 2014 at 15:22

2 Answers 2

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In simple word / is the root partition where Ubuntu stores it's system file where as /home is home partition where home directory of users is create.

If you want to protect your personal files during re-installation or in some other circumstances , you can install / and /home in two different partition.

  • Durring installtion in Installtion Type window select Something Else
  • After this you can edit your partition if you needed.
  • Select the partition on which you wnat to use as / and select Mount point as /.
  • Once you're done deleting, resizing, and creating partitions, select the partition on which you want to use as /home and select Mount point as /home. (Before going to next stem make sure both partition is of EXT4 type).

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  • Click on Forward to proceed the installation.
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You don't format your PC, you format the harddisk, or one or more partitions on that disk. Formatting means erasing everything. So you lose everything on that partition.

When you install Linux, you can decide to put everything on one partition. In that case / and /home are on the same partition. Formatting that partition means erasing your home folder. When you create a special partition for /home, this won't happen. When reinstalling you need to specify to use that partition for /home. I haven't done this, but you probably have to create a new user (andie2), because I think Ubuntu won't let you use an existing user when installing.

Best advice: make a backup of your home folder on an external harddisk. Use rsync or a backup tool, to make sure you copy all, including hidden files and folders.

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  • Oh, I knew that..Im sorry for the mistake. I created a 4 Gb swap, 40 Gb for the / and the rest is /home..is that alright? When I format the partition my home will not be deleted because I made it as another partition? Sep 15, 2014 at 15:53

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