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A few days ago I fully switched from Windows Vista to Linux Mint. I am happy with my decision so far. I just have one issue. During installation I opted for full disk encryption so that a password is needed to complete start up. I have come to realize that this is overkill for me and completely unnecessary. I would like to remove this.

Rui F Ribeiro
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Zuse
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1 Answers1

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I am assuming that you want to keep the files that you already have on the disk. In other words you want to reinstall the system without disk encryption and want the files currently in your home to be available on the new install.

(If the above is not the case, i.e. you do not care about the files currently on the machine, then all you need to do is to perform the installation again. Boot from the live-CD (or install) media and perform all steps again, including disk formatting and partitioning, and reinstall without enabling full disk encryption).

Anyhow, if you want to keep that files I do not have any good news for you. cryptsetup/LUKS full disk encryption is made to not allow access to files unless you are mounting it as a LUKS device. The cryptsetup FAQ officially states that there is no functionality to decrypt a disk.

The only sure (and sensible) way to retrieve your files from the currently encrypted disk is to boot your current installation, attach a removable media and copy the files there. Then installing from the live-CD (or installation) media without enabling disk encryption. And finally attaching the removable media again and copying the files to the new system.

Extra note

a password is needed to complete start up

Linux (actually UNIX) is a multi-user system by design. To enter a graphical interface you should be asked for a password*. Bypassing this step is a very bad idea.

* Some distros allows hacks that bypass the password prompt. As far as my experience goes Mandriva was the only one that had an autologin hack in some configuration tool. But I have not been using any "user friendly" distro for some years already.

grochmal
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  • I am not interested in saving the files from the disk as I still have backups. I have the iso on a usb but have no idea how to boot from it to perform installation again. In Windows I just pressed f8 after turning on the machine but I don't know the Linux equivalent if there even is one. – Zuse Jan 20 '17 at 05:02
  • @Zuze - You do absolutely the same: F8 after boot. That part of the boot process is managed by the machine itself - the circuitry. It is different for different machines (sometimes F2, sometimes F3, sometimes F8, there is no standard), but is completely independent from the operating system (be it Windows, Linux or something even different) – grochmal Jan 20 '17 at 17:39