Upgrading my kubuntu

[bai.ganga]

Long ago, I had formatted and installed a dual-boot (Kubuntu and Windows-7) on my Laptop. My Laptop is Acer Aspire 5536G. It has an AMD Turion 2.2 GHz processor, 3 GB RAM and 500 GB Hard disk. Other paraphernalia like the graphics card, webcam, bluetooth, wireless LAN, DVD R/W drive etc., are present in it. Although the laptop can support 64 bit systems, both the operating systems installed are 32 bit versions.

During boot-up, the GRUB (?) comes up giving me choices to open either Linux or Windows (plus two more choices related to Linux) and I have been mostly using Windows. Both the operating systems are functioning normally without any problems. Today, I opened Kubuntu after nearly two years and it shows that an 'upgrade' to version 12.04 is possible. To check what version of Kubuntu I have, I typed in as directed in another place here and the result is as shown below:

nivedita@goonds-Aspire-5536:~$ cat/etc/lsb-release|grep DISTRIB_RELEASE
bash: cat/etc/lsb-release: No such file or directory

So, I do not know what is the exact version of Kubuntu and other associated programs that I have. However, going by the time that I had formatted and installed the operating systems on this computer, I guess the version of Kubuntu shoul be either 11.04 or an earlier version --- definitely not a later one.

Now, my question is . . . . . . . . . . Can I use the 'upgrade' facility from within Kubuntu to change the version of OS to Kubuntu 12.04 LTS as has been indicated? Or . . . . . . should I change over to an even later version if available? I want to be sure that the system's initial setup remains exactly same with option to either open WIndows or Kubuntu like it has been so far.

Secondly, with the Windows-7 32 bit system remaining as it is, can I upgrade to a 64 bit system of Kubuntu? Do I gain any special advantage by such upgradation?

Can someone help with specific answers please?

[sithlord48]

you can not upgrade from 32 bit to 64 bit. you would need to reinstall. this would be recommended as there is no reason to not use 64-bit on your 64-bit machine, and while you can upgrade coming from older version you have have some config issues w/ kde as it has changed quite a bit over the last two years.

you can upgrade to 12.04 using the command do-release-upgrade (or the GUI tool) . after that since there is no newer LTS you could upgrade to 12.10 then 13.04 using the command do-release-upgrade -d . you have to upgrade from version to version you can't just go from 12.04 - > 13.04 (easily).

[Snowhog]

I typed in as directed in another place here and the result is as shown below:

nivedita@goonds-Aspire-5536:~$ cat/etc/lsb-release|grep DISTRIB_RELEASE
bash: cat/etc/lsb-release: No such file or directory

There has to be a space after the cat command:

cat /etc/lsb-release|grep DISTRIB_RELEASE

[bai.ganga]

Please help again.

As advised, I tried to find the version of Kubuntu once again. The result when I typed with a 'space' after 'cat' as directed, is as given below.

nivedita@goonds-Aspire-5536:~$ cat /etc/lsb-release|group DISTRIB_REL
No command 'group' found, did you mean:
Command 'groupd' from package 'cman' (main)
Command 'groups' from package 'coreutils' (main)
group: command not found
nivedita@goonds-Aspire-5536:~$

So, I still can't find the version of Kubuntu.

Then, I did not find an answer to the most important one amongst my earlier questions. Can I use the 'upgrade' facility from within Kubuntu to change the version of OS to Kubuntu 12.04 LTS as has been indicated? -----------> Most important one to be answered is ---------> ------> I want to be sure that the system's initial setup remains exactly same with option to either open WIndows or Kubuntu like it has been so far. Can someone please confirm the abvoe aspect?

[Snowhog]

You typed incorrectly. It isn't 'group'; it's grep. Just copy the following and then paste it in the console:

cat /etc/lsb-release|grep DISTRIB_RELEASE

[kubicle]

cat /etc/lsb-release|grep DISTRIB_RELEASE

For simplicity, you can just run 'lsb_release -r'

[bai.ganga]

Thanks Snowhog. Now, I got the answer as 11.10.

But, Can someone please answer the following specifics?

1. Can I use the 'upgrade' facility from within Kubuntu to change the version of OS to Kubuntu 12.04 LTS and can I be sure that the system's initial setup remains exactly same with option to either open WIndows or Kubuntu as it has been so far? Or is it necessary to reformat the system using the Kubuntu on a CD?

[vinnywright]

Thanks Snowhog. Now, I got the answer as 11.10.

But, Can someone please answer the following specifics?

1. Can I use the 'upgrade' facility from within Kubuntu to change the version of OS to Kubuntu 12.04 LTS

yes ,,if you know how.
Muon will do it , in Muon go to settings>configure software sources>updates tab>in the release upgrade section click the dropdown box and select "long term support releases only" ,,,,,,in a few minuets you should get a notification of the 12.04 release .

and can I be sure that the system's initial setup remains exactly same with option to either open WIndows or Kubuntu as it has been so far? Or is it necessary to reformat the system using the Kubuntu on a CD?

your Grub install should not be changed by the system upgrade

VINNY