Is there any way to restore WSL after a hard reset?

Question

linux

I suggest listening to a joke: break WSL, decide to reinstall, and only after uninstalling remember that there were a lot of important files in its storage.

This is a joke that I became a participant in. Can anything be done about it?

Answer 1

Its "storage" is essentially somewhere in the folder of the Windows user. Like in AppData. Restore exactly all the information of a Windows user. If it is backed up - then here, if not - well, take the recovery tool and try it. If the info is archival - bring it to the specialists.

Answer 2

Its "storage" is essentially somewhere in the folder of the Windows user

default here

C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Local\Packages\<distroname>\LocalState\

for the future, I would recommend loving WSL2, where the file system is stored in a .vhdx file (in WSL it is a bag of files with complex linking, it’s not realistic to back up just like that)
in addition, there are nice command options
wsl --export | --import
very convenient for backup, replication and / or moving the distribution to another location. including with a change in the registration name and / or transfer to another computer

let's rename to kubuntu

because after tuning this is kubunta

ps more useful things
access to the windows file system from wsl /mnt/c | /mnt/d | /mnt/e ...and so on
access to the wsl file system from windows\\wsl$\<distroname>\home\<wsl-user>\