[PolarbearNO]

Will I lose my media files if I reinstall XBMCbuntu on my Zotac Zbox ID81?

[anthonymcdevitt]

that depends on where your movies are located. If they are on the same drive that you plan to reinstall with, then most likely. Ive never used xbmcubuntu, but i'd assume a reinstall would require a drive reformat, meaning youll lose all data on that drive

[digitaltomj]

xbmcbuntu is an Operating system...so like when you erase and re install any OS, you will lose all info on the partition where that OS is installed...so the question is, if you saved you media on the same partition as where you installed xbmcbuntu...if the answer is yes...then you will need to backup your media and any other information you don't want to lose...if you are haveing a problem with xbmcbuntu and cant access your files, then you should install ubuntu 12.04 to a thumb drive, aka a live disk (info how to do that here) personally I would use YUMI Multiboot USB Creator to make the boot disk because then you can have ubuntu12.04 and xbmcbuntu both on one pendrive with a grub boot menu...anyway, once you are in ubuntu with the live disk, either make a new partition to store your media on with gparted (ctrl+alt+t, sudo gparted) or for an even better peace of mind (and cleaner install) you should backup your media onto an external hard drive...then you will be free to format your disk so that you have a partition for the OS (like 30 Gigs the most), a swap partition for the file system (equal to the ammouint of ram you have on your computer (4 gigs of ram = 4 gigs of swap space) and then the rest of your drive make your media partition...now you can clone your OS partition and back up a fresh install, and if you ever need to re install xbmcbuntu or switch to a new OS your media will not be affected.

[PolarbearNO]

Thanks for the replies. I guess if I can't iron out the quirks, I have to make that backup and try a different distro.