Score:0

Does "Change..." option in "Something Else" during installation erase the partition contents?

jp flag

I had been using dual boot with Windows 10 in an SSD and Ubuntu 18.04 in a HDD. Due to some issue with the SSD, I removed it and tried working only with the HDD with Ubuntu installed. But the system did not detect the GRUB bootloader. So I manually erased the /boot partition using GPARTED in a Live CD. Then went on to perform an installation where I set the freed up memory as /boot. After I pressed Install Now, It was then shown that I also need to set the / partition. Now, I am unsure if selecting the root partition with all of my data and changing it to / mount point would delete or keep all of the data. How should I proceed further?

Score:2
cn flag

Now, I am unsure if selecting the root partition with all of my data and changing it to / mount point would delete or keep all of the data. How should I proceed further?

The / mount point is formatted if...

  • the filesystem is not POSIX compliant (ext4)
  • you did anything with the boundaries of the partition
  • you click the "format" option.

To proceed: mark the system partition as /, don't pick format.

And of course before you proceed with the above you have made sure to have a backup of your personal files so if anything goes wrong you can still restore your files from that backup.

Anjishnu avatar
jp flag
Thanks a lot! I haven't made a backup of the root directory yet as I was feeling extremely lazy, but think I will now.
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