Linux Mint Forums

The Mint 16 installer has options to install alongside a previous Mint version, replace that Mint version, or custom partitioning.

Rather than replace Mint 15, the "replace Mint 15" option destroys all partitions and data. Well done, Mint devs.

At the very least, there should be a proper description of that selection. ie "this will destroy all your partitions" instead of the current BS description that's similar to "Deletes all Mint 15 files, documents and videos".

This lack of transparency destroyed my home partition, a Windows partition, a recovery partition, and a data partition.

I've used "Replace Mint" option countless times and not encountered this problem.
My windows partition has remained untouched through -I don't know how many- Linux installs done in this way.

I'm not suggesting you clicked the wrong thing, but whatever caused this problem must be incredibly rare or just a freak occurrence... otherwise there would be a lot more angry people like yourself (considering that the installer is used in other very popular Linux distros such as Ubuntu).

I don't think it's fair to blame the Mint devs.

c1940095 wrote: This lack of transparency destroyed my home partition, a Windows partition, a recovery partition, and a data partition.

No problem. Just restore your most recent backup...

...you know...

...the one you make just before a major system change, or from your regularly scheduled backups.