[Swlug] forgotten administrative password

[Dick Bain]

I always create a separate /home partition so that it is okay to install
the latest version onto the root partition and your user data will be
safer, of course you must back up everything too 😉
For preference I use Linux Mint or Ubuntu and so the user password is in
the list of sudo-ers
If you really want to retain the current Linux you can interrupt the boot
process when grub comes up and follow the instructions from Jon 😉
Dick


On Sat, 6 Feb 2021, 11:56 Marcus Davage via Swlug, <swlug at mailman.lug.org.uk>
wrote:

> I'd personally reinstall with the latest version having being downloaded
> on USB first. If you had separated the /home directory from / at the
> beginning, that would make life easier. If you hadn't, then back up the
> /home directory first, reinstall, then restore.
>
> I use Mint on all my kit at home, with a dual boot Windows partition.
>
> Best of luck!
> Marcus
>
> On Sat, 6 Feb 2021, 11:46 Bill Thomson via Swlug, <
> swlug at mailman.lug.org.uk> wrote:
>
>> Hi team, I hope you're all well :)
>>
>>
>> I have a slight problem. I installed Linux Mint 19.3 onto a friend's
>> computer to create a dual boot (Windows/Linux Mint) capability. When I
>> installed the Linux Mint 19.3, from a USB drive, I set an administrative
>> password for future updates etc. However, I have forgotten the password I
>> set, and the list of updates is now quite impressive!
>>
>>
>> Is there any way of reminding myself of the password, or of changing it?
>>
>>
>> Alternately, I could reinstall Linux for my friend. How do I go about
>> doing that? Do I have to uninstall the original installation first, and if
>> so, how?
>>
>>
>> The very few files that are on the Linux installation have already been
>> backed up onto a separate USB stick.
>>
>>
>> I'd welcome your expertise on this knotty little problem please. It's
>> obviously important that my friend's Windows installation stays intact.
>>
>>
>> I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you!
>>
>>
>> Bill Thomson
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