https://askubuntu.com/posts/9889/edit
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It'd be a good idea to just copy all of
/homeas that contains your documents and preferences. If you just want to know where preferences are stored, it varies. Many applications store them in.config(that's/home/username/.config) and.local. Most user preferences will be in.gconf. Some older applications might save settings in.gnome2. Firefox uses.mozilla; other browsers use.configas far as I know. To be safe, I'd just recommend backing up /home still. -
Run
dpkg --get-selections > ~/my-packages.txtto build up a list of everything installed (or removed) on your system. It will be saved in your home folder asmy-packages.txt. Once you reinstall, runsudo dpkg --set-selections < ~/my-packages.txt(assuming the file is placed in the same location again) and thensudo apt-get -u dselect-upgradeto start installing packages. You'll want to also back up/etc/apt/and restore it