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I am using Ubuntu 12.04 LTS on a USB on an HP Pavillion.

I posted a problem about removing Thunderbird. I was advised to use GKSU Nautilus to become root, or as I understand it, SUPERUSER. I could NEVER get it to work and I am now afraid I have screwed up my whole LINUX system. I can't get stuff to mount and then other stuff says it can't unmount (see images)

I have read that either using sudu or gksu can possiblibly lock the user out entirely. It seems that I am completely locked out as an administrator I can't even access the system settings/user accounts!

I am now completely overwelmed. I even tried to create a new USB loaded with 12.10 and was willing to overwrite everything and start new, but without being able to mount another USB I can't even do that.
I was going to (in desparation) try and run 13.04 from a DVD. I got as far as getting the ISO and it's files onto a DVD but now the DVD won't mount so I can't use it.
Have I screwed it all up with the GKSU command or perhaps the sudu?
It definitely seems as if I've lost any and all permissions.

HELP!!!!!

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Buskieboy
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First, I don't know why you'd want to use Nautilus to remove Thunderbird. That's just wrong. If you were deleting things with Nautilus as root, you could have nuked anything by mistake. If you're not sure exactly what you erased, I'd not be too concerned with screwing up you whole Linux install, because you probably did. I've hosed my system, and some people re-install weekly, just to try out different distributions.

Second, do you have a good backup of all your user files? Things like photos, documents you've created over the years and don't want to lose? If you do, great. If not, I'd do some damage control first. If you can boot to an Ubuntu Live CD or USB, you should be able to plug in the 1 TB USB drive you use for your regular backups, find your home directory on your hard drive and copy everything to a folder on your 1 TB USB drive.

If you don't have a large USB drive you use to make regular backups , you need one, and you need to use it.

After you've managed to back up everything, and you're sure you've backed up everything including hidden files in your home directory because you've checked carefully, you can do a clean install and copy everything back if all the other excellent advise you're going to get here can't save your installation.

Marc
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