Mint 12 upgrade {SOLVED}

[DavidMcCrossan]

Hi Guys!
I have used linux for over 10 yrs, but, following several strokes and the fact that I am 70 and live alone in Spain I still need a little help, so please bear with me as I try to help myself.
I have never upgraded before, as my erstwhile Wiz advised me always to do a clean install.

However, I find Mint 12 very easy to use and I trust Clem and his team so I am minded to look to the future. I use the Mint model of Gnome 3, which I rather like, although I will elect to use Cinnamon for the future.

I have printed out the instructions and I am preparing to download and upgrade over broadband.

Is it necessary to make a backup, and will any of my settings/files be overwritten so should I make a copy of hidden files as well?

I would be most grateful for any advice.

Best regards

David

[hal8000]

You only need to backup your work, docs, photos, music etc, but include any config files which
you may have modified, e.g. modified grub2 scripts etc.

I would take the advice of your wiz and do a clean install, in my experience it takes about 3 times
longer to do an upgarde and its much more problematic, as each file will have to be checked against
dependencies etc.

One advantage to a fresh upgrade is that all log files (which can grow quite large) will be created again
and you'll have more disk space. If you do a fresh install, no need to wipe partitions beforehand, just
let the installer wipe the partitions for you.

Its always prudent to make a backup, there are plenty of CD/DVD writing programs to choose from on
linux so I would create backups first before you do anything.

[remoulder]

Is it necessary to make a backup, and will any of my settings/files be overwritten so should I make a copy of hidden files as well?

This tutorial may be useful.

[DavidMcCrossan]

Most grateful to hal8000 and remoulder for their excellent and timely responses.

Clean install it shall be.

Many thanks

David