[SOLVED] Upgrading to LL2.0+

[gold_finger]

I have read other posts on here about how to do it and it is just too overwhelming to back up my whole computer, format the space where LL is and attempt a re-load.

I feel like if I could just get it up to date to the latest it would fix everything....

Any shortcuts to do this that anyone has found?

There's no good way to "upgrade" from one version to the next.  Best thing to do is a fresh installation over the old one.

As ChrisL stated, it's always a good idea to keep some kind of backup for your important data files at all times -- whether you're installing/upgrading OS's or not (and whether or not you end up using just Windows or both OS's).  If something ever happens to the hard drive you'll be glad you have stuff backed up.  Backups can be something as simple as copying/pasting your data off to a USB stick, or external drive; or you can do a full clone of the drive if you've got a spare of equal or greater size.

If you go slow and pay attention to what you're doing you shouldn't have to worry about anything getting damaged on the Windows side of computer.  If you post back with info requested below, we can guide you through doing the new install pretty easily.  (You'll be surprised at how easy it is to do.  )

Boot into LL and open a terminal.  Enter these two commands one a time (they show us your partitioning):

Code:

lsblk
sudo parted -l

(Last character is a lowercase letter "L", not a number 1.)

Copy/Paste full output of both commands back here for us to see.


Do you have important data files on the LL side of the computer?  If "yes" and they are not on their own partition (separated from the Root partition), copy them to a USB stick.  If you have a separate /home partition, then don't worry about it -- we'll just keep that and re-use it during new install, so your data will still be there.

Do you have a Windows recovery disk set made?  If not, do that.  There should be a built-in method for doing that in the Windows menu.  This is something you should do no matter what -- whether you install another version of LL or not.  Somewhere along the line you're bound to need it.

Are you happy with the amount of disk space that you've been using for LL?  Or would you like to change that (allot more or less space for LL)?

Have you installed a lot of extra software to your current LL installation?  If "yes" can you remember what you installed and make a list of the important programs you'll want to add again to the new install?

Do you use Firefox (or a different browser) and/or Thunderbird?  If "yes", you can back both of them up easily by doing the following:

• Open file manage to your Home folder
  
• Go to View -> Show Hidden Files (or just type Ctrl+h)
  
• Look for these two folders that begin with a period (.):  ".mozilla" and ".thunderbird"
  
• Copy the entire folders and paste them onto your backup USB stick.
  
• We'll describe how to restore them to new install later
  

While waiting for our reply back, download LL 2.2 and make a live DVD or USB.  Boot from it and test out to make sure it works well on your system before we attempt the install.