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Not sure if this is the right question but, I recently reinstalled Ubuntu and had some files that I didn't back up. Is it possible to boot from the vmlinuz.old to recover these files and if so, how would I do so?

Zanna
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eyoung
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  • vmlinuz means the kernel; vm=virtual memory; z=compressed in *nix or posix kernel speak. It'll just use an old kernel, and all files will be the same, so I can't see how it can help you? What are you after? – guiverc Mar 02 '18 at 00:01
  • Trying to recover some files. If you could also help me understand what initrd.img.old is too that would be great – eyoung Mar 02 '18 at 00:03
  • I realized that; but what files. You can see the same files if you use a later kernel, using an older kernel won't change anything; so what files? The 'vmlinuz' will just change the version of kernel in your memory, and won't have any effect on your filesystem. – guiverc Mar 02 '18 at 00:04
  • I have a seed im trying to recover that I didnt save anywhere else. So a text file? – eyoung Mar 02 '18 at 00:05
  • Where was it? and what options did you use to reinstall? If you formatted the partition where that folder was stored; it's gone. If you didn't format it (eg. /home/somewhere) it'll still be there regardless of kernel. If partition wasn't formatted but was in a emptied directory (say /bin) it'll also be gone. (why I asked what file (meaning where)) – guiverc Mar 02 '18 at 00:06
  • Thanks, at this point I'm pretty confident the files gone since it was a disk format – eyoung Mar 02 '18 at 00:09
  • initrd = intial ram disk; a reduced kernel (built from your real kernel) that bootstraps your system to get the real kernel running. – guiverc Mar 02 '18 at 00:10

2 Answers2

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No. It is possible to boot from an old kernel*, but that will not help you recover files. You should ask another question about how to recover the files.

*See How can I boot with an older kernel version?

wjandrea
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The short answer is no.

Booting vmlinuz.old will simply boot from the previous kernel rather than the current kernel. It does not restore files that you overwrote by formatting or repartitioning a disk during a re-installation of the operating system.

Barring the use of data recovery methods outside the scope of this website, you can effectively consider the data permanently lost.

If the data you are seeking to recover is on a disk that you did not repartition or format, you can easily recover it, assuming you know where it is. A standard reinstallation procedure would normally involve formatting your drive. If you did not explicitly omit formatting your disk, your data is likely gone for all practical purposes.

LinkP
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  • "Barring the use of data recovery methods outside the scope of this website, you can effectively consider the data permanently lost." I wouldn't be so fatalist about it. At least, there are some recovery tools like testdisk that may be able to recover the lost data. – wjandrea Mar 02 '18 at 00:14