[SOLVED] Dual-boot or multi-boot of Linux Lite (and others) with Windows 7

[gold_finger]

When you don't create a separate partition for /home, then /home is just another folder under the main Root partition.  So "yes", your user config files will be stored there (in home under root).

The "fstab" file located under the "/etc" directory/(folder) in each distro is the file that tells the system which partitions to mount on boot.  If you open that file with a text editor (leafpad in LL) and look at it, you'll see that there are line entries to mount the Root and Swap partitions.  When using a data partition, you will want that partition to be auto-mounted on boot also.  So you just create an entry in the fstab file for that partition.  That entry specifies the partition UUID, the mount point for it (eg. /mnt/DATA), file system type (eg. NTFS, or Ext4), etc.  A "mount point" is just a term meaning the location within the file system that you want the partition located.  If you use "/mnt/DATA", that means if you opened your file manager you could navigate to the location by going to Root ("/"), then to the "/mnt" directory and "DATA" will be listed under there.

If you enter a mount point for the data partition during installation, the fstab entry for that partition will automatically be made for you.  If you don't, then you will need to add the entry manually after installation.  That's easy to do and the entry will be exactly the same in each of the installed distros.

Assuming you create all partitions ahead of time with GParted, when you start the installation choose "Something else" option for LL and Mint.  (Other distros may word install options differently.  Equivalent to "Something else" in LL and Mint for others is any option that allows you to manually designate partitions yourself.)  You'll be brought to a partition selection page.  This is where you set the mount points for partitions to be used by the installer.  Assuming you don't make separate home partitions, you'll only need to designate a partition for Root and the data partition.  (Usually Swap is automatically recognized and used by distro installers, so you don't need to specify anything for it.  If one of your distros wants you to select and format it, go right ahead and do that.  It won't cause any issues for other distros that did not have you do that.)

NOTE:  Before continuing, just a side note.  Since you're starting fresh right now with partitions you just created, formatted and labeled in GParted, you will not need to check the box to "Format" the partitions you select during install.  (You already formatted them in GParted.)  It won't hurt anything to check the format box, but doing so will wipe-out the label you made for the partition in GParted.  Labels for partitions just make it easier for you to identify which partitions are which when you later list them all out or look at them with a program like GParted.  Without labels, you just see a bunch of partitions identified by long UUID numbers.  When you leave the "Format" box unchecked, installer will issue a warning that you forgot to format -- just ignore that and continue.  (If you were doing a re-installation over an existing one on a partition, then you would need to check the format box.)

For each distro you install, on the partition selection page choose the Root partition you made for it, then hit the "Change" button.  That pops-up a box where you set the particulars for the partition.

• Use as = Ext4 file system
  
• Size = leave as you already made it in GParted
  
• Mount point = "/" for the Root partition
  
• No need to "Format" it this time.
  

Do same thing for the data partition:

• Use as = either "Ext4" if only going to use with Linux distros, or "NTFS" if using for Windows and Linux.
  
• Size = leave as you already have it.
  
• Mount point = "/mnt/DATA" (or another of your choosing if you want it somewhere else)
  
• DO NOT format this partition -- that will wipe out any data on the partition.  Main purpose here is just to tell the system where to mount the partition and to mount it at boot time.  As long as you never choose to format the partition, all existing data on it will remain in tact and be accessible to the system at the location you designate as the mount point.
  

Continue on to finish installation after setting those mount points.


I think you should just go ahead an install LL or Mint right now.  Set the mount point for the data partition during installation so you don't need to manually add an fstab entry.  The drop-down box for mount points will not have a choice that shows "/mnt/DATA", so you simply type it into the box yourself (without the quote marks).


Boot into Windows and run EasyBCD to add the boot choice.  Reboot into your LL or Mint install.  Open file manager and go to "/mnt/DATA".  If you try to create and save a folder called "Documents", it likely won't let you because the partition is probably owned by root.  So just open a terminal and enter this command to change ownership to your username (substitute your real username where I have "username"):

Code:

sudo chown -R username: /mnt/DATA

Now, go ahead and try creating a "Documents" folder there.  It should now work.
Incidentally, if you decide to use "Ext4" filesystem on that data partition, then you will only need to take ownership of it once.  The permissions stick with the filesystem and as long as you use the same username on all distros you won't need to take ownership again on each one of them.