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How do I reset my Ubuntu installation just like it's freshly installed (like factory reset), with my files being intact and without a reinstallation.

riashatrafat
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  • If you boot from a LiveUSB there should be an option to do this. –  Dec 07 '15 at 20:44
  • I know there's an option like erase/reinstall while booting from live media, but I was searching for something where I don't need to go through installation process again. – riashatrafat Dec 08 '15 at 03:37

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Sorry, but there is no "factory reset" option in Ubuntu. You will need to reinstall it. To keep your files intact:

  • If you have a separate /home partition, unmark the "format" partition and set its mountpoint to "/home" during the installation.

  • If you do not have a separate /home partition, copy the entire /home directory to an external storage drive, such as a flash drive. You will need root privileges to do it, so run 'gksudo nautilus /' in a terminal, without quotes, to open the file manager with such privileges. Then just copy-paste the "/home" directory to the external drive. After you reinstall Ubuntu, your files should be there.

Eduardo Cola
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If you try this software, I believe it will do as you want: https://github.com/gaining/Resetter, just download and install the deb file, it reads the manifest of ubuntu and compares it with actual installed package list then creates a removable list from there along with options to remove users.

answerSeeker
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This is just an idea, but technically you could mount an image of a freshly installed system and swap it from your original one

Zyraj
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