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I have installed Ubuntu 12.04 with Wubi on Windows 7 32 bit. I want to do a backup of my whole installation of Wubi (all the files, configurations and programs I installed), so in case of something going wrong I can go back to the backup and have all as before (and not install all again from zero). Is that possible?

I like to test a lot of things, and with that, sometimes I end crashing things, so that's why I'd like to have some backup.

I read in http://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide that I should make a copy of the root.disk, but I'm not sure... when I copy it back to the /ubuntu folder there's any risk of something going wrong? (grub issues or something like that).

Thanks in advance, and sorry for my ignorance.

Nico
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  • I wrote up a bit on how wubi boots here: http://askubuntu.com/a/55029/14916 It might help explain why it works (backup all .disk files except swap.disk - in most, but not all cases that's just the root.disk) – bcbc May 16 '12 at 04:59
  • The correct way to do it is from Windows. Copy C:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk someplace else. You can rename it appropriately, e.g. root-May152012.disk. If you ever want to restore that backup, just copy it back to the C:\ubuntu\disks\ folder as root.disk (again, from Windows). – ish Sep 03 '12 at 11:10

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If it were me, as someone who likes to test things, I would do it differently.

Install virtualbox in windows, and install Ubuntu in a VM where you can easily back it up in total, and make copies or bookmarks. You can create a clean install, then copy the disk image to have a 2nd clean install (or even make 3 copies if you have room).

This has the advantage of eliminating any grub issues, since each VM has its own grub, it's easy to back up, and can even be moved to a different computer easily.

Another advantage is to avoid WUBI, which is sometimes problematic.

Or, the way I do it is to simply create several partitions on my disk, and install things directly. But that requires understanding how GRUB works, and possibly solving problems now and then. Good way to learn, if you're in to that, but stressful if you're not (or even if you are, until you learn.).

Marty Fried
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  • Yes, I tried before with virtualbox, but it ran very slow, so that's why I use Wubi. Thanks anyway! – Nico May 18 '12 at 03:24