Recently I've bought a new notebook. I'm going to install ubuntu 12.04 next to win8 with dual boot config. Is it that simple and safe to just copy my home folder from an old desktop with Ubuntu 10.04 to a new 12.04 installed system? Or should I do that other way?

3 Answers

Yes, just copy over your home directory. These are the steps I would follow:

1. Make a proper archive on the old system.

   cd /home
   sudo tar -zcf username-archive.tar.gz username

2. Make sure that you use the same username on the new system.

3. Copy over the archive to the new system outside the home directory where we will unpack it to of course.

4. (Re)boot up the new system, but don't log in yet. This will make sure nothing will be running under your user account, depending on the contents of your homedir.

5. Press Ctrl+Alt+F1 to go to a virtual terminal.

6. Log in, then become root fully, e.g.

   sudo su -

7. Backup the almost empty homedir, e.g.

   mv /home/username /home/username-old

8. Unpack it, e.g.

   cd /home
   tar -zxf username-archive.tar.gz

No, it is not recommended to copy the home folder since it contains hidden files that have settings for programs that may not merge perfectly with the new installation versions of programs that might operate a bit differently to their older versions.

But you can copy each folder in the home folder (Documents, Downloads, etc.) to the new machine after Ubuntu is installed.

2

You must copy your Home folder content in a Home Folder in new notebook by open nautilus in terminal :sudo nautilus and Use a removable drive or Connect to Harddisk together.

Then You must change User owner of files to user in your new notebook by:

cd ~
sudo chown -R YourUsername *

you can copy most application setting that is in your old home folder and they are hide with began their name by '.'.

Don't copy all of hidden folder in home like .config . it may crash your os because their version isn't same. just copy all you need.

2

Your Answer

Sign up or log in

Sign up using Google Sign up using Facebook Sign up using Email and Password Submit

Post as a guest

Post Your Answer Discard

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and cookie policy