When i try reinstalling ubuntu i get this error msg "There is a file or directory with this name. Please remove it before continuing." What do I do?

I suspect this is a Wubi install?

Please look at bcbc's notes in this forum post:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=10584729&postcount=4

You may be able to get more detailed instructions asking for help in the following thread:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1639198

Okay so i tried the renaming thing C:\ubuntu to C:\ubuntuSAVE and for 5mins it was working until i got this msg that said "permission denied". Now i need more help!

I think i replied to you already on this thread http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1711373 ?

Anyway - please go to the %temp% directory (hit Start, enter "%temp%") - then look for the wubi log file... for 11.04 it will be called wubi-11.04-rev211.log. You can post this to http://pastebin.ubuntu.com and return the pastebin address here and I'll take a look.

Please also explain a little more about what has happened. Did you have a working wubi before and something happened so you are trying to reinstall? Are you trying to recover data from this or trying to preserve the old install?

Ok Q1. Did you have a working wubi before? Yes but only for a day because is was getting some kind of error msg that i can't remember so I tryed to reinstall it and i uninstalled it then reinstall it and it says as it said in my question so after Erick B. replyed to my quote i did what you said and it was downloading for a good five minuates but it read the error msg "Permission Denied" so i did as you said whent to the log file and also i replyed to your comment in your reply go back to that thread http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1711373 and see that i said the same thing and you will see this long list in log that it says and oh my it made my eyes tried for looking at that list for 30mins. Also Q2,3, and 4 i think i answered correctly in Q1. Also I think Wubi is so much less complicated than windows so i would really love for anyone to help and thanks for your help and generousity!

Also i am trying to Persevre the old install

I checked the log file - it is getting an Errno 13 when it's copying the ISO from the CD to the local drive. This is usually the result of a bad burn on the CD. Either burn another following instructions here: http://www.ubuntu.com/download/ubuntu/download (step 2, click on SHOW ME HOW) or download the desktop CD ISO and place it in the same folder as wubi.exe before running (also you need to remove the Ubuntu CD from the drive if you use this technique).

In terms of preserving the old install - it's hard to know if this will work unless we know what that error is you were getting. Do you recall?

Sorry but no :( but ill just use you first technique and i will email you how it goes!

Wait i remember it was reading as ISO error msg but if i see it then i will recall it

@ bcbc,

Sorry I handled this so poorly. I've been tied up with pressing non-computer issues this summer and I didn't take the time to answer this properly after receiving a PM from Ashton.

@ Ashton,

No need for more PM's, bcbc knows more about Wubi than I could ever learn. As frustrating as computer problems can be some patience is required ;^)

Thats it!!! Ubuntu hates my computer!!! I know it! It still displays Permission Denied! I did the whole reburning the cd thing and it is hopeless!!! Ubuntu h8s me...

If we were on the Ubuntu forums I'd ask for the output of the Boot Info Script so we could have a really close look at things.

http://bootinfoscript.sourceforge.net/

In retrospect, after receiving your first PM, I should have simply said that I'm too busy to deal with individual problems.

There's nothing personal involved, other than my need to keep a roof over my head.

I apologize about the inconveince Erick. But if you still want to help I downloaded the file in windows and it doesn't recogize the file.

You can also use a USB stick or as I mentioned earlier if you place the desktop CD ISO in the same folder as wubi.exe and run wubi from there it will find the ISO and use it (but for this to work you need to remove any ubuntu cd/usb from the computer or it will default to them and fail again).

The thing is you installed it before so whatever method you used then should work again.

So do i delete the many of copys of wubi.exe and store the desktop CD ISO in C:\ ubuntu

No, download the desktop CD ISO in the same folder as the downloaded wubi.exe (anywhere other than C:\ubuntu) and then run wubi from there.

Do mean i have to redownload it for the website or can i just click and drag one of the ubuntu-11.04-desktop-i386 CD ISO to the same folder as wubi.exe

Provided the CD ISO is good that will work.

If you have any problems then copy the log file to http://pastebin.ubuntu.com and then return here with the address. That 'permission denied' is pretty meaningless unless you look in the log file to see what happened.

Here is the pastebin address:

http://pastebin.ubuntu.com/637772/

Remove the CD from the F: drive and try again. Don't run it straight from
internet explorer either. Run it from your downloads directory.

And where is the download directory?

Thanks bcbc! You helped alot!

Thanks bcbc, that solved my question.

Another question bcbc... how to transfer files from windows to ubuntu

You can browse your "host" ntfs partition by looking in the /host folder. e.g. click on the Home icon (top left of unity bar), then click on "File system", and then "host". That will let you browse the host 'drive' and copy files.
If you are using Gnome desktop manager instead of Unity, then click on Places, Computer, File system, host.

I will caution you though. Wubi is intended to try out Ubuntu. It's less reliable that a normal "direct to partition" install, because Wubi uses a virtual partition that is actually a single file (C:\ubuntu\disks\root.disk). If that file gets corrupted or deleted you can lose the data on it. So moving data to the virtual disk from the stable C: drive is not a safe thing to do.

Personally I recommend leaving important data on C: and if necessary creating folders that link to folders on C: i.e. your Pictures folder on Ubuntu will actually take you to "C:\Users\xxx\Documents\My Pictures"

If you must have everything stored on Ubuntu then I suggest partitioning your drive and installing Ubuntu in a regular dual boot, not with Wubi.

Glad you gave me the heads up!

Re. your email. Wubi creates a virtual disk (or partition if you like) that is fixed in size. So even if you have a 1TB disk, if you selected 17GB for your Wubi install, that's all you get.

There are some options to resize this disk... https://wiki.ubuntu.com/WubiGuide#How_do_I_resize_the_virtual_disks.3F

Can you teach me step by step how to do it...because i dnt think i am doing it correctly... it says Download and run this in terminal:
sudo sh wubi-add-virtual-disk /home 15000

And i put it in and my terminal says can't open wubi-add-virtual-disk

You probably saved it in your Downloads directory...

CTRL+ALT+t
cd Downloads
sudo sh wubi-add-virtual-disk /home 15000

If you saved it somewhere else, e.g. your desktop... then
cd Desktop

Note linux commands are case sensitive. Also note that [TAB] autocompletes.
So if you type "sudo sh wubi-" and then press the [TAB] key it should
autocomplete (if you are in the correct directory).

Thx that really helped but after i do that should I reboot or what to do next?

You're supposed to reboot back into Ubuntu - make sure things are working as
you expected, then delete the old home that is still on the root.disk. Then
you'll see the space increase on the root.disk.

It should have outputted a message to that effect and the Wubi guide should
also mention that.

Thanks and if i want to increase the space i press

sudo su
swapoff -a
cd /host/ubuntu/disks/
mv swap.disk swap.disk.bak
dd if=/dev/zero of=swap.disk bs=1024 count=2097152
mkswap swap.disk
swapon -a
free -m

in the terminal

Nd another question where is the old home located because i cant find it

Never mind i found it but it wont let me delete it becauseit said permission denied

That's what the guide says - I haven't personally used that, but it looks
right.

Ashton Rideaux posted a new comment:
> Thanks and if i want to increase the space i press
>
> sudo su
> swapoff -a
> cd /host/ubuntu/disks/
> mv swap.disk swap.disk.bak
> dd if=/dev/zero of=swap.disk bs=1024 count=2097152
> mkswap swap.disk
> swapon -a
> free -m
>
> in the terminal
>
>

I'm not sure why you can't delete it. You could try doing it as root.
Please use the following command with extreme caution... if you make a typo
you could do some serious damage to your system:
sudo rm -rf /home.backup

NOTE: there is NO space between the / and home - if you accidentally put
one in it will delete ALL your files. There is also no space around the
period and backup. In other words NO spaces in "/home.backup"

Please also refer to the manual for "rm" before running: man rm

> Ashton Rideaux posted a new comment:
> Never mind i found it but it wont let me delete it becauseit said
> permission denied
>
>

Wait where's the manual and what's rm and man rm

Lol i deleted it

Ok so i try to put in the code for the free space count and when i get to these commands:

>dd if=/dev/zero of=swap.disk bs=1024 count=2097152
> mkswap swap.disk
> swapon -a
> free -m

It didn't respond so what do i do?

You're going to have to be more specific. Enter the commands one by one. If
you have any strange output, stop and copy and paste the entire terminal
contents here so I can see what's going on.

Please be extremely careful with the "dd" command. It is VERY dangerous if
you make a typo.

Hey bcbc is their another method on how to get more free space because i need it immediately

Also bcbc i did the whole
swapoff -a
cd /host/ubuntu/disks/
mv swap.disk swap.disk.bak
dd if=/dev/zero of=swap.disk bs=1024 count=2097152
mkswap swap.disk
swapon -a
free -m

and it displays
root@ubuntu:/host/ubuntu/disks# swapoff -a
root@ubuntu:/host/ubuntu/disks# cd /host/ubuntu/disks/
root@ubuntu:/host/ubuntu/disks# mv swap.disk swap.disk.bak
root@ubuntu:/host/ubuntu/disks# dd if=/dev/zero of=swap.disk bs=1024 count=2097152
2097152+0 records in
2097152+0 records out
2147483648 bytes (2.1 GB) copied, 168.671 s, 12.7 MB/s
root@ubuntu:/host/ubuntu/disks# mkswap swap.disk
mkswap: swap.disk: warning: don't erase bootbits sectors
        on whole disk. Use -f to force.
Setting up swapspace version 1, size = 2097148 KiB
no label, UUID=de273d0f-6f8a-4212-8c0d-319b18fde87e
root@ubuntu:/host/ubuntu/disks# swapon -a
root@ubuntu:/host/ubuntu/disks# free -m
             total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 2949 2839 110 0 373 419
-/+ buffers/cache: 2047 902
Swap: 2047 0 2047

What does that mean???