How to reset or change Ubuntu Root password..

We need to boot into recovery mode to change the password or even if we have forgotten the password. Here's how to do this:

Boot up the computer, and after the BIOS screen has loaded, hold down the left

• SHIFT key. You will then be prompted by a menu that looks something like this:

Now select

• Recovery mode using the arrow keys and press 
• Enter

This menu should pop up..

 Now select:

• Root using the arrow keys again to move the highlighted line and press 
• Enter At this point you should see a root prompt which reads:
• root@ubuntu:~# The file system will be read only so we have to re–mount it with write permissions. So type this into the prompt:
• mount -rw -o remount Now we use the passwrd command but we have to select the user. Say our user is called dave72, then we type this:
• root@ubuntu:~# passwrd dave72 Now we have selected the user and now we choose a password to enter. Say the password is 1234 then type:
• Enter new UNIX password: 1234
• Retype new UNIX password: 1234
• Passwrd: password updated successfully
• root@ubuntu:~#

 BTW, the command passwrd is spelled like that to distinguish it as a command rather than a word. Now simply reboot the computer and you're done.


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How do I open a terminal window in Ubuntu?

The sidebar to the left of the desktop in Ubuntu has lots of Icons, but right at the very top is a Ubuntu button which when clicked opens the 'Dash'.

So go ahead and open the Dash..

You see a place where you can type stuff so type 'terminal' and an icon of the terminal window will present itself with the appropriate label.

Click this icon and a terminal window will open.

But what is a terminal window and why do I need it?
  The terminal window is a way to directly program Ubuntu. For example, using the word 'sudo' gives you root permissions.

Ubuntu has a lot of protection around it and that's why we need permission to alter our own system files! Usually apt-get refers to grabbing something online from a web site.

So if you were to type 'sudo apt-get update' in a terminal window for example, Ubuntu would update itself using what is called 'repositories' which is another word for stuff stored on a computer somewhere that is fresh =]

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How do I update Ubuntu?

How to update Ubuntu? My advice is:

Don't bother!

The reason is that Ubuntu has many dependencies and removing and installing programs can lead to difficulites. 

I'v also found the Ubuntu after it has been updated becomes unstable especially when lots of programs have been installed.

For me, the best solution is to put a fresh copy of Ubuntu especially the long term releases.

There are some things you might want to do first though. For example if you are using firefox, you might want to save all your bookmarks. First, go to: 

• Bookmarks at the very top of the firefox window and select 
• All Bookmarks Now select the tab which says 
• Import and backup, then select 
• Export Bookmarks to HTML I prefer this to exporting bookmarks in another format. Now 
• Save the bookmarks on you external hardrive.

Another tip is to use only one folder for everything! So you can create a folder called 

• Backup and then create folders within it called 
• Home
• Desktop
• Downloads 
• music
• videos 

These are obviously folder I created to mimic the Default folders Ubuntu already has. Then I can simply move all contents into these folders, and then move the whole lot to another drive.

You should also note which programs you have installed in the software centre.

Another thing which should be done is copy passwords of Thunderbird and Firefox. It's probably best to write these down on a hard copy.

OK this system is a little time consuming but 

1. We now have a complete backup of all files in a separate drive which is very secure and we can copy them back to the new copy of Ubuntu.
2. Everything is now updated with the lastest configuration and
3. We are not mixing and older system files with newer system files.
4. The system has been tested thoroughly by experts in Ubuntu.

I do this every few months and I've never lost any data of had any issues with software and the system is always up to date.

 

Installing Ubuntu

Installing Ubuntu is very easy but...

• If you use a USB 3 flash drive it might not be recognised, so try the USB 3 flash drive in a USB 2 port. The USB 3 ports are blue in colour and USB 2 are black.
• Use a USB 3 drive! If you have one, installation is much, much faster with one of these, even in a USB 2 port.
• There a two types of encryption available. One encrypts the system files, and the other encrypts the Home folder and all your files.
  The problem with the above is that if you have a crash of some sort and all your files are encrypted.
  So when you use say a USB drive with Ubuntu on it to recover your files, guess what– yep you can't do anything with them because they are encrypted!
• If I encrypt the system files instead of the Home folder, I found I have to start Ubuntu twice to get it working.
  That's because the screen would be blank on first startup and would be fine upon restarting. So now I don't bother encrypting the system files. 

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