Wanting to reinstall Ubuntu

[exboyfil]

I bought a second hand computer installed with Ubuntu, but the seller never gave me the administration password he used to set up computer.

I don't mind scrubbing anything I have on the machine, I would just like the easiest way to reinstall Ubuntu or recover/create a new administration password.

Any suggestions. I don't know a lot about computers.

Thanks

[BootinUp]

1. Erasing the disk is an option you can select during the installation

https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-install-ubuntu-linux/

How to install Ubuntu
What you'll need: To make this work, you'll need to download the ISO image for the latest release of Ubuntu. Once you have that downloaded, you'll then need to burn the ISO image to a USB flash drive using a tool like Unetbootin (which can be installed on Linux, macOS, or Windows). Burning the ISO image to a USB drive isn't just copying the file to the removable device; instead, it creates a bootable drive from which you can then install the operating system.

There are other options for the burning software see below
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-burn-an-iso-file-to-a-usb-drive-2619270

[ret5hd]

2. Simple (meaning no real instructions) fix...

Format hard drive

Reinstall Ubuntu

I know this probably isn’t what you were after, but that’s the essence of it. I guess you would need to download a Ubuntu image first, probably on a different computer, seeing as you don’t really have access to this computer yet.

[hippywife]

3. Get a local computer tech...

if you don't know a lot about computers.

[DUar17]

4. I've done this before.

How to Reset Forgotten Ubuntu Password in 2 Minutes

https://itsfoss.com/how-to-hack-ubuntu-password/

I hate to re-install because it takes be a long time to get it back the way I want it to be.

[LPBBEAR]

5. Reinstall

A new installation is going to be quick and easy.

Choose to manually create your own hard drive partitions as follows.

1 A "root" (/) partition of approx. 50 to 100 gbs if you have the room. /
2. A "swap" partition of 8 to 16 gbs if you have the room. swap
3. Devote the rest of the drive to a "/home" partition. /home

If for whatever reason you ever have to reinstall the system do the same as above but choose to NOT format the /home partition. All of your personal data is stored in the /home partition and by not formatting it you will preserve that data. If you do have to reinstall use the same username and password you originally used in the first install and you'll find all your data and basic settings will be there untouched in the second install thus saving you tons of time by not having to recreate it all. Then simply reinstall the applications you prefer and you'll be right back running as before. A typical Linux distribution install is far faster than installing any version of Windows.

A /home partition in Linux is somewhat equivalent to the C:Users directory in Windows.