Preparing to reload my PC
Almost a half decade ago I installed Ubuntu for the first and only time. Since then I've simply upgraded to the latest version as they've come out, but some time back I decided it would be good to completely reload my PC. The problem immediately became "I have to back everything up", which it turns out was a major undertaking.
Consequently, I've spent a grueling three days combing through my hard drive, looking for anything and everything of value. It's been emotionally taxing to find a lot of memories tucked away like land mines throughout the drive; they're supposed to all be neatly organized into broadly-named directories that I can confidently burn to a DVD without being surprised by the contents...except that they're not.
Be that as it may, it's also been very time-consuming (see "three days", above). I've consolidated everything onto 10 DVDs, but I've additionally had to create an auxiliary user with which to test every possible import I'll need to do after reloading the computer. Turns out things basically work just fine, so I'll rest easy as I wipe clean a drive that I've used for five years straight. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's terrifying! But I have some confidence I won't lose my data.
After reloading the PC I'll write more.