How can i do a factory reset on linux mint21+?

[Cr3sp0]

So i feel like i got my linux OS in a mess that i can't backtrack to untangle, is there any way i can reset it to all of its original settings as if i newly installed it?

[Midnight True]

If you have a timeshift snapshot dated during your very 1st installation, you can roll back into that

[Cosmo.]

There are system settings and user settings, so what do you mean.

To get rid of the user settings you simply create a fresh new user account:
Open Users & Groups and create a new account for testing. Reboot and log into the new account.

Timeshift for restoring system settings? Hm, this can only work, if there exists a Timeshift snapshot from the time immediately after installing the system. And even if this is the case, restoring to it only for resetting is a far too rough method. In this case you can also do a fresh install.

[Reddog1]

As long as the underlying system is working o.k., as cosmo says, create a new user. If your original user was cr3sp0, make a new user cr3sp1, and reconfigure your new account (without messing it up this time). No offense, anybody that has been doing this for a few years has done it at least once

[AZgl1800]

I have messed mine up so many times, I have lost count.

if you can figure out how to partition the drive, make a partition for /home and all of your data files will be safe.

I have over-written the OS partition so many times, so not to worry
it is small,about 30-40 gB

[Nikolai5]

You've also got the nuclear option of actually just installing the OS from scratch. Just backup the files you wanna keep beforehand and you're good.

[Pierre]

the nuclear option in our LinuxMint System,
is certainly quicker that the nuclear option in the Windows System,

in both cases, it should always the the option of Last Resort.

[Cr3sp0]

I had no files that i transferred from my windows OS to my linux OS anyway so i was barebones to start off with. All i downloaded was proton vpn. I really don't mind doing the nuclear option if that means linux will be just as if i had first installed it

[motoryzen]

Everyone here have made good points/suggestions.

I'll add that..ONCE..you finally get back to normal/up and running, please consider the following.

1. Try to set up your drive for separate partitions. 3 total I believe

1st for /boot ( which is the obvious...boot partition)
2nd for / ( which is your root directory which should be no less than really 80GB's as recommended by many Linux veterans. )
3rd for /home ( your home folder to be in a separate partition = this gives the long haul advantage of keeping manual backups more organized...AND when it's time for you to install a newer main version of Linux Mint via clean install...chances are you don't even have to touch any other partitions except just aiming that new clean install to the / partition

Beyond that I don't recall any special instructions though. I want to say I've seen sensible recommendations from users like all41, rene, SMG, AndyMH, pjotr possibly at least a handfull more I've noticed who have proven VERY helpful on this site for many years.

2. a separate drive mean for Timeshift only ( as in ensure you target via Timeshift's gui settings a separate drive and DON'T include any extra directories)

3. Another separate drive for doing system image backups or disc clones using Foxclone ( the actual developer AndyMh is an active forum member here and has proven to be very helpful in not only that application but other issues on this site for many years now). Just ensure the separate drive is equal size or bigger than your main Linux Mint drive to keep things nice and simple without crazy settings complications to worry about.


ssd's for any of these 3 are a godsend....at least try to have one for the timeshift and/or System disc clone or image backup if possible. Makes life so much easier and faster getting backup and going if crap hits the fan.

for manual backups, I personally have fallen in love with rsync.

Joe Collins has done a few videos explaining how he uses it and I couldn't agree more with his overall logic about it.
Here's the rsync launcher command I created to backup my /home partition to a separate ssd

Code: Select all

gnome-terminal -x bash -c "rsync -avhu --info=progress2 --delete --exclude=".cache" '/home/taco/' '/mnt/sdb1 rsyncbackup/' ; echo Press enter to close ; read"

I pasted that command into the command field of a " create a launcher here" setup deal.named it " Rsync home to 4TB external ssd". So all i have to do is double left click to launch it and it does it's thing. *** Note..the first time you run just about any rsync command ..especially if you're backing up many GBs of files..It will always take a while the first time. Let it finish..It's all about only changing what has been changed from the source. So it only provides replacement backups if something has changed.

It's all about variety of backups that keeps your sanity and from losing not only data, but keeping your system running as it should also should you accidentally do an update that causes a weird conflict or you accidentally nuke something that should have remained. ( timeshift saved my bacon earlier when I got fast fingers trigger happy trying to delete only a steam folder inside /usr/lib and I ended up permanently nuking many other important folders...one of which was how I launch gnome-terminal )

[Moem]

1st for /boot ( which is the obvious...boot partition)

FWIW, I don't have one of those. It's not something that every Mint system has or needs.

[motoryzen]

1st for /boot ( which is the obvious...boot partition)

FWIW, I don't have one of those. It's not something that every Mint system has or needs.

How is it possible you don't have a boot partition? Even when I used to do clean installs of Linux Mint Cinnamon across the 12 years I've been using every version, even when I let it do an automatic/beginner's way ( no separating partitions), it's always auto-created a /boot partition.

Am I missing something here?

[Moem]

How is it possible you don't have a boot partition?

I don't know. I have a root partition, a home partition and a swap partition, and the swap partition is not really needed.
How is it possible that you apparently do have a boot partition?

[rene]

If not mistaken the Ubuntu installer creates and created a separate, unencrypted /boot partition when installing with full-disk encryption, and on legacy systems it may be useful/needed so as to have all your kernels live below 2TB, i.e., be legacy BIOS-accessible, but a separated out /boot is not generally needed for anything and not by default created by the installer. It's unlikely that outside of that FDE context more than a handful of forum users here will have one.

[AZgl1800]

How is it possible you don't have a boot partition?

I don't know. I have a root partition, a home partition and a swap partition, and the swap partition is not really needed.
How is it possible that you apparently do have a boot partition?

I think I have the same as Moem
ignore the /backup partition, that is just what it means, it is for Timeshift

[motoryzen]

moem. I follow the instructions here ..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOHjqllzTy0&t=220s specifically at 1:50 ish ..I call it a boot partition but technically it's an EFI partition (shrugs), but I don't create a swap partition. though

I called it a /boot partition because per gnome-disks...from left to right..the very second partition literally is mounted at /boot/efi which is around 536MBs in size.

[Moem]

moem. I follow the instructions here ..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOHjqllzTy0&t=220s specifically at 1:50 ish ..I call it a boot partition but technically it's an EFI partition (shrugs), but I don't create a swap partition. though

Thank you. I'm not going to watch a video. In any case, I don't have one:

We can and should stop talking about it, as it's not going to help the OP, but let's keep in mind that a boot partition is not something that is always needed. We've learned that much.

[Cosmo.]

A very short answer regarding a boot partition.

Besides that: The OP has never answered the question, what (s)he wants to reset: system settings or user setting. Without that answer we are at a dead point. Of course the "nuclear option" is always possible, but I do not understand in this case, why it is needed to ask about a reset.

[motoryzen]

hey Cr3sp0, would you mind explaining why you think you need to start over aka " factory reset" ? Maybe there is an accidental misunderstanding somewhere that we can help you work through to avoid needing that option and help you resolve the problem and save you more time in the end.

[rene]

I call it a boot partition but technically it's an EFI partition (shrugs)

Preferably don't shrug that one off, since it's an important difference; an EFI partition is, Ubuntu installer shenanigans notwithstanding, applicable only to UEFI systems/boots and not BIOS/Legacy ones. It's where the bootloaders that the system's firmware loads and hands control over to live; "a boot partition" in the Linux context is where the kernels and initramfs-en which said bootloader in turn loads do.

Having former separated out is always necessary if you don't want your system's firmware to have to know about e.g. just any filesystem type or RAID array or encrypted device or ... on which bootloaders may live; having latter separated out is only useful in the handful of fairly specific circumstances where you don't want the used bootloader to have to know about all of that.

A note is that the standard mountpoint for the ESP has outside of the Debian/Ubuntu universe been moving to /efi from /boot/efi -- and/or in fact to /boot when using e.g. systemd-boot instead of Grub, and when having kernels/initramfs-en stored directly on the ESP. If latter move continues (as I expect) then "a boot partition" is going to be a lot less well-defined also in the Linux context than sketched above in the not so distant future but for now they're still quite different beasts...

[motoryzen]

@rene

And That'..right there..is why I try to remember to mention your name along with at least a dozen others here when it comes to saying things like " others such as a, b, c, s, etc will probably have more room to talk about this subject than I currently do " when I come across something in need of help on here.

Ya taught me something new *gives a Leo DiCaprio young sly grim of appreciation from The Quick and the Dead movie *