Can I re-install 10.10 without losing data

hmmm...are you reposting under a different name? i swear i answered this question twice already in the last 10 minutes.

yes you ARE and yes i DID.

I didn't post this question under a different name.

I did post a question about rolling back a screwed up system - maybe it was a snarky answer about that problem you are confused about.

I've given up the idea of rolling back - now I just want to re-install the OS without losing my personal settings and custom paths.

It seems the answer to this is also "no".
I guess Ubuntu doesn't have the concept of re-install. Everything is treated as an install - and an install includes re-partitioning and reformatting the HD.
That's a shame.
Up until now, this was my best candidate as my Mac OS replacement.

Please close as a duplicate of:
https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+question/144006

You have an active question regarding this issue. There is no need to post another as the issues here are in the same vein as your previous question

Thanks

Assuming your installation is badly messed up (as yours is), the only files you *want* to retain are the contents of your home folder, which you can copy out of your Ubuntu system, and then restore after a fresh installation.

I know this is not a perfect solution to your problem. But it's something.

reinstalling ubuntu is pretty painless. the most it'll take is 1/2 hour, unlike windoze which can take 3 to 4 hours. after you install, you can let the update do it's job unattended. with windoze, you have to constantly be there to answer questions.

"install includes re-partitioning and reformatting the HD." NO. You could keep previous partition without reformatting. You need to choose manual partitioning and uncheck "format" box for partition.
I never tester, but I think you can reinstall with keeping old files. If you want to be sure, I can run this configuration on a virtual machine, but not immediately. And if you want to do dangerous things, do them in a virtual machine like me!
But I agree with Eliah. A reinstallation will be cleaner. The best should be to make a dedicated partition to /home folder, so you will have any reinstallation issue about /home in the future.

@delance
> I never tester, but I think you can reinstall with keeping old files.
> If you want to be sure, I can run this configuration on a virtual
> machine, but not immediately. And if you want to do dangerous
> things, do them in a virtual machine like me!

In addition to knowing if this works, it would also be useful to know if it is supported. My understanding is that it is not, but that might not be correct. Does anybody know?

> The best should be to make a dedicated partition to /home folder,
> so you will have any reinstallation issue about /home in the future.

Or, for users who don't want to mess with advanced stuff like manual partitioning, the best thing would just be to get all the documents off, reinstall, put them back on, and then reconfigure applications to your liking! (Or you could back up the configuration files too, and restore them as well.)

We explicitly support keeping old files on /home during installation,
using the procedure delance outlined. If you do this, system files will
be deleted and replaced with the new installation, but /home will be
preserved.

Here's the development blueprint for this feature:

  https://wiki.ubuntu.com/UbiquityPreserveHome

Cool! I'm very happy to know about this now.

@Colin

If a separate partition contains the contents of /home but is *not* configured with /home as its mount point in an existing installed system, and you manually partition in Ubiquity, setting up /home as the mount point for that partition (and not formatting the partition), will it automatically and safely import user accounts from there, too?

This related but different situation is discussed in https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/ubiquity/+question/143997. If Ubiquity has this ability, then I can retract the warnings I posted there about the need to manually changer UID's and/or chown recursively.

@Eliah: I reinstalled two times Ubiquity with a separate /home folder. During first installation, I let Ubiquity choose UID, and at each reinstallation Ubiquity choose the same UID, so I had nothing to do about users. At work, I discovered RedHat has same policy of always using same default UID from one installation to the following one.

@delance
Right, I understand that it works for reinstalling on top of a system that already has a separate home folder. My question is, does it work with a *new* separate home folder, that is *not* set up to be mounted as /home in the pre-existiing system?