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

[br1anstorm]

I'd appreciate advice and help over the choices, and the procedure, for setting up a dual or multi-boot of Linux Lite and others with Windows 7.

I'm a newcomer to Linux, and not comfortable with command-line or terminal working unless I am VERY clear about the instructions (too often, advice tends to assume or take for granted steps which need to be spelled out!).  One of the challenges is that there seem to be several ways of achieving the setup I want;  and the more I research and read up, the more confused I get!

First, the basics.  The laptop I want to install on is a Samsung RF511, Intel i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, 750GB HDD.  It is running Windows 7 as originally supplied.  When learning about partitioning, I shrank the Windows partition and created a new empty partition - so the disk now shows up now as having two 'drives' - of 512GB and 217GB.

Not quite sure which partitions are seen as being on which of the two drives that now notionally exist on this single hard disk. I have looked at the HDD using GParted, and the current configuration is this:

/dev/sda1          ntfs        SYSTEM                      100.00 MiB                              boot
/dev/sda2          ntfs                                            202.00 GiB  63 GiB used        (contains Windows7 OS)
/dev/sda3          extended                                    476.89 GiB                              lba
/dev/sda5          ntfs                                            476.88 GiB     
/dev/sda4          ntfs        SAMSUNG_REC              19.65 GiB      19.63 used      diag

Now, what I want is.......

i)  to keep Win7, ideally with its MBR intact.  I know most stock dual-boots suggest installing the Linux GRUB bootloader instead.  But I'd prefer to keep the Windows installation complete and separate rather than having to rebuild or reinstate the Windows MBR if (however unlikely!)I ever revert to Windows only;

ii) to install Linux Lite (at least) as an alternative, dual-boot, OS on the hard drive;

iii) a bit more ambitious, to have not only LL but also two other distros I like, Linux Mint and PCLinuxOS, also installed - ie a multiboot setup;

iv) if possible and not too complicated, I'd like to have a single "Data" partition for all my documents, pics etc - at least shared by the Linux distros, if not by the Windows OS as well.  On this, I understand that a Data partition shared by all Linux OSs is not too complicated (though I don't yet understand symlinks and/or binds....).  But if I want a single Data partition with folders which both Linux and Windows can read, this might require the partition to be formatted to ntfs?

Now for the possible constraints...

v) as mentioned, I want to keep the Windows MBR, not replace it with GRUB;

vi) the Samsung laptop has a "Recovery" partition which I understand is linked with the Samsung OEM backup and recovery software.  That partition is at the end of the HDD - if that is relevant;

vii) I know from forum posts that the LL Grub2 doesn't play nicely with other Linux Grubs (because it has been modified to make dual booting with Windows easier).  So I assume this may make a difference to what-grubs-go-where if I seek to have more than one Linux OS in a multiboot setup;

viii) I also know that PCLinuxOS still uses Grub (Legacy) while LL and Linux Mint use Grub2.  In simple terms, in a multibooot setup, if Grub2 is the "lead" or only bootloader it can "see" and work with Grub Legacy if updated after the latter is installed;  buy legacy cannot detect or connect to Grub2.  This, too, seems to make a difference to what-grubs-go-where and how they talk to each other.

So what options - or routes - do I have to set up the arrangements in the way I have indicated?

Is using EasyBCD the only way of installing Linux distros alongside the Windows 7 on the same HDD without modifying or replacing the MBR?

As I understand it, I would need to install Linux Lite, including its GRUB2, on a partition (primary or logical??) on my HDD.  Easy BCD then - in plain language - provides a 'connection' which tells the MBR to look for and boot from Grub2.  Seems simple enough.  I have looked at the youtube video by Matthew Moore at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dwwSSg-kJM . 

But I haven't yet established whether or how Easy BCD can be used to set up more than one Linux OS in a multiboot.  Is it just a matter of repeating the same steps (each Linux OS and its Grub into its own partition, then update easy BCD)?  And does it matter, or make any difference, that PCLinuxOS uses Grub Legacy?

Am I right to assume that my other objective - of having all my documents in a separate Data partition - can only be sorted out after I have completed the installation of my dual or multiple Linux OSs?  It does however seem to me that if I want eventually to do this, then the partitioning (and formatting) of the HDD to create a common Data partition should be planned and done before I begin any of the installing.  It also presumably determines whether I have separate /root and /home partitions for each of the Linux OSs when I first install them?

Do I have any ways other than using Easy BCD of putting one or more Linux OSs on to that internal hard drive without messing with the Win7 MBR?

It seems neatest and most practical - if possible - to put my three Linux distros on to the internal laptop drive if there is enough room for them as well as the Windows7.  As an alternative I have contemplated putting my three preferred Linux OSs as a multiboot setup on to a separate external USB3 1TB HDD which I happen to have.  I would then boot into that USB drive using Esc at bootup on the Samsung (like F12 on my older Dell)  to bring up the boot options.  This would not need Easy BCD.  But I would still need detailed advice on the installation and the sequence in order to ensure that Grub2 and Grub Legacy talked to each other.  I guess it would require the LL Grub2 on the mbr of that external USB drive, and then the Linux Mint and PCLOS Grubs on their respective root partitions?  There would still remain the additional question of how to organise a single Data partition to store all my documents etc whichever of the three linux OSs I happen to want to use.

Lots of questions, I know.  I'm sure the answer is to do it one step at a time.  But i need to have a clear blueprint as to the eventual outcome, if only so that I do the basics (like partitioning) correctly from the start.  It seems to make sense first to decide on location (internal HDD or external) then to clarify the exact steps needed for whichever location is chosen.

[gold_finger]

It's clear from your post that you've done your research well.  You've got a good basic understanding of what needs to be done.

Despite computer having a Windows recovery partition, it's a good idea to make a set of recovery dvd's or a recovery usb for Windows.  (There should be a built-in program allowing you to create that.  Do a search for "recovery" from Start menu button if necessary.)  If hard drive itself dies, the recovery partition won't do you any good.  If MBR gets messed-up by either Linux or EasyBCD, the recovery dvd's/usb will make repairing it easy to do.

As far as I know, if you want to keep Windows MBR in tact you need to use EasyBCD for adding Linux distros to boot menu.  I haven't used that in years myself, but believe it's relatively easy to add more than one Linux distro.  I'm guessing that you can either add boot choices to it one at a time (as you add Linux distros), or add all at once if you install all Linux distros one after the other before running EasyBCD.  Don't think it's a problem either way.  When using EasyBCD, install each Linux distro's grub to their respective Root partitions.  None of them should be directed to the MBR (/dev/sda).

If you choose to have Linux's grub boot loader take over booting, you are correct that best way is to install Linux Lite's grub to the MBR (/dev/sda) and have all other distros install theirs to their respective Root partitions.  After adding other distro(s), just boot into LL and run "sudo update-grub" to have their entries added to the boot menu.

Creating an NTFS formatted data partition (to be used by all Linux distros  and Windows) ahead of time is a good idea and will not add any complications to your Linux installations.

You shrunk Windows and made space for the Linux distros -- good.  However, it's best to just leave the resulting free space un-used and un-partitioned and do the partitioning for Linux distros with a Linux tool like GParted.  So, boot into Windows and delete both /dev/sda5 (logical partition) and /dev/sda3 (extended partition) before you get started with Linux installs.  Then reboot into Windows one time to let it adjust to new disk format.  (Not sure if that's necessary, but can't hurt.)


From here on out, I'm just going to outline what I would do in your situation.  (There's no one right way to proceed, so feel free to make any adjustments you want to suit your needs.)

1.  Make partitions ahead of time for various Linux distros and the shared data partition.  To do that, boot from LL dvd/usb and open the GParted program.  (Menu -> System -> GParted, or Partition Drives.)

• Make one large "Extended" partition covering all of the free space on drive.
  
• Rest of partitions listed below will be "Logical" partitions within the extended partition.
  
• Make one "Ext4" Root partition (20-25GB) for each distro.  (To make later identification easier, label each partition.  Eg. "LinuxLite", "Mint", etc. -- without quotes and don't have spaces in the names.)
  
• Since you'll be saving data to separate shared partition, I wouldn't bother making Home partitions for the distros.  (If you want to do that, feel free but they won't need to be any bigger than 1-3GBs.)
  
• Make one Swap partition that will be shared/used by all distros.  If you plan to use hibernation, make Swap => 8192MiB.  If not, you should be fine with size = 2048MiB or so.
  
• Make shared data partition covering the remaining space in extended partition.  Format it as NTFS.  (It's not required that you make this partition ahead of time -- just easier than adding it later.)
  

2.  Install each distro using the manual install method. ("Something else" install choice for LL and Mint; not sure what PCLinux will call it.)  For each distro:

• Use the same "username" on each distro so you don't run into any permission problems on shared files.
  
• Set the Root mount point ("/") on it's designatated partition.
  
• If installer allows, manually type-in and set a mount point (eg. "/mnt/DATA") for the shared data partition.  (Use same mount point in all your distros so it's easy to remember.)  Setting up data partition can be done after installation too, so don't worry if you forget to do it or can't figure out how during install.
  
• For LL and Mint, no need to specify anything for the Swap partition during install.  Not sure about PCLinux.  If it wants you to select and format the Swap partition, that's fine.  That won't negatively affect anything when Swap gets used by other distros.
  

3.  Add each distro to boot menu choices.

• For EasyBCD, find and follow instructions to add new distro choice.  (I don't know procedure myself.)
  
• If Linux Lite's grub is in charge of booting, just boot into LL after installing another distro and run this command in a terminal to add the boot choice:
  

Code:

sudo update-grub

4.  Setup DATA partition for use with all operating systems.

• If you did not set DATA partition during install, follow this tutorial to do it after install.
  
• In the Linux distros, ownership of the mount point will probably be set to Root initially.  You'll need to change that so your user is the owner.  Open a terminal and enter this command to take ownership of the mount point.  (Substitute your real username in place of "username" in the command.  And change "/mnt/DATA" to your mount point if that is not what you used.)
  

Code:

sudo chown -R username: /mnt/DATA

• Open file manager and navigate to the data partition.  (You can do this in any Linux distro, or from Windows.)
  
• Create the folders you want to use for data files.  Eg. Documents, Downloads, Music, etc.
  
• Create symlinks from the DATA partition folders to your Home in each Linux distro.  You'll need to boot into each distro one-by-one and perform same basic steps:
  
• Navigate to Home folder and delete all current folders except the "Desktop" folder.
  
• Create symlinks from the DATA partition folders to your Home.  (Embarrassed to say that I don't know how to use GUI method for this, so can only give you command line method.)  Open a terminal.  You can enter a separate command for each folder that you want to link to Home using format like this:
  

Code:

ln -s /mnt/DATA/Documents /home/username

• Or, you can create all of the symlinks at once with a command like this:
  

Code:

ln -s /mnt/DATA/{Documents,Downloads,Music,Pictures,Videos} /home/username

• Just make sure that the folder names in the command are spelled out exactly as you made them on the DATA partition.
  
  
  
• When you're done with symlinks, you will now see those folders when you open your Home in the file manager and when you save things to them the data will end up on the DATA partition and be useable by all operation systems.
  
• I don't know Windows procedure for creating symlinks from DATA partition to Home, but Window 7 forum likely has answer to that.  Or you can just navigate to "D: drive" and save things in the folders that way.
  

P.s.
I don't think legacy grub in PCLinux will cause any problems with EasyBCD or if you decide to have LL's grub2 in charge of booting.

[br1anstorm]

That response, gold_finger is - as usual - pure GOLD!

Thank you so much for that clear, precise and logical step-by-step guidance.  It is so helpful when the process is set out in such a systematic way.

Good advice to create a separate back-up/recovery disk.  I have both the Samsung recovery program and the Win7 backup/repair utility, so might play safe and do one of each!

Although I understand the arguments for turning over the whole bootloading process to LL's Grub, I think I will probably rely on EasyBCD, keep the Windows bootloader and put each Linux distro's Grub on the relevant /root partition.  As I understand it, once the various distros are installed in this way and listed in Easy BCD, then EasyBCD just "points" to the Grub of whichever distro you opt to boot into.  In other words, if using EasyBCD there's no need to "sudo update" any of the Grubs belonging to any individual distro,  as each is in its own partition and only responsible for booting its own distro when told to do so by EasyBCD! 

One particular point of detail.  You say it's hardly worth creating /home partitions when installing each distro because there will be a DATA partition wherein to store all the docs etc.  Then a bit later on you say "Create symlinks from the DATA partition folders to your Home in each Linux distro.  You'll need to boot into each distro one-by-one and perform same basic steps......Navigate to Home folder and delete all current folders except the "Desktop" folder......Create symlinks from the DATA partition folders to your Home."  Now this might seem a really dumb question from a newbie - but am I right to think that if I only have a /(root) partition for each distro (and no separate /home), then I will instead have a "Home" within the /(root) of each distro (inside which are pre-prepared and empty Docs/Pics/Music/Video folders)?  And once I have deleted these ones, I then go into the DATA partition, via each distro in turn, and do the "symlinking" using the terminal commands you provide?

I don't want to digress or complicate matters:  but am I right to think that one argument for making a /home partition (even if only small) for each distro is that certain stuff ("configurations", and "profiles" - which are particular to each distro?) can and do then remain there, even if you store all the docs, music, etc in the folders in the DATA partition?  Or does that sort of stuff just as easily stay in the residual "Home" area in the /(root) of each distro if you don't have separate /home partitions?

One other area where I'm still not wholly sure I have grasped the details is the business of choosing/labelling the mount point for the DATA partition and then sorting out or changing its ownership and creating symlinks.  But you have given me more than enough information and encouragement to "give it a go", so I will get started on the backing up and (re)partitioning and installing, and see how far I get.

Huge thanks for your advice:  I guess a lot of it is about having enough of an understanding to act with confidence, rather than groping around trying things in the semi-dark without really knowing why!

[rokytnji]

I've been symlinking /data to /home directories for some time.

editing /etc/fstab is required for that to work correctly.
Which makes things more complicated.
I don't mess with that on my Windows Laptop.
Because my Windows Laptop is my Biker Tuner laptop.

Just giving you info on what to expect. The more you want. The more steps and complicated things get.

[br1anstorm]

Thanks for that......

I've been symlinking /data to /home directories for some time.

editing /etc/fstab is required for that to work correctly.
Which makes things more complicated.
I don't mess with that on my Windows Laptop.
Because my Windows Laptop is my Biker Tuner laptop.

Just giving you info on what to expect. The more you want. The more steps and complicated things get.

I'm thinking that I might just make a shared DATA partition for the (three...) Linux distros I plan to install and leave Windows out of it.  That would mean I could format the DATA partition as Ext4 rather than NTFS.  It would also save me the complication of figuring out how to "symlink" between the DATA folders and the folders in Windows "My Docs/Pics/Music...".

Editing /etc/fstab is another matter.  Is this an alternative way of setting up symlinks, or a necessary extra step which gold_finger didn't mention?

[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.

[br1anstorm]

It's a little while since this earlier conversation took place, and other things have distracted me from setting up this dual/multi-boot arrangement.

But I have just about cracked it.  One minor hiccup, in that during the install process I "forgot" to set up and mount the shared Data partition. But I was able to go back and sort that out.  I kept it as Ext4 and plan to use it only with the Linux distros.  As suggested, it is at  /mnt/DATA.

So I now have my first Linux OS all set up, with its grub in the same partition as its / (root) , and I have successfully configured the boot arrangements using EasyBCD, and it all works!

All that remains is (a) to make sure I have taken ownership of the DATA partition, and then (b) to create, organise and symlink the folders.  This advice from gold_finger earlier was pretty clear, but I have a couple of queries, mainly because of my unfamiliarity with working with terminal commands....

.....
4.  Setup DATA partition for use with all operating systems.

• If you did not set DATA partition during install, follow this tutorial to do it after install.
  
• In the Linux distros, ownership of the mount point will probably be set to Root initially.  You'll need to change that so your user is the owner.  Open a terminal and enter this command to take ownership of the mount point.  (Substitute your real username in place of "username" in the command.  And change "/mnt/DATA" to your mount point if that is not what you used.)
  

Code:

sudo chown -R username: /mnt/DATA

• Open file manager and navigate to the data partition.  (You can do this in any Linux distro, or from Windows.)
  
• Create the folders you want to use for data files.  Eg. Documents, Downloads, Music, etc.
  
• Create symlinks from the DATA partition folders to your Home in each Linux distro.  You'll need to boot into each distro one-by-one and perform same basic steps:
  
• Navigate to Home folder and delete all current folders except the "Desktop" folder.
  
• Create symlinks from the DATA partition folders to your Home.  (Embarrassed to say that I don't know how to use GUI method for this, so can only give you command line method.)  Open a terminal.  You can enter a separate command for each folder that you want to link to Home using format like this:
  

Code:

ln -s /mnt/DATA/Documents /home/username

• Or, you can create all of the symlinks at once with a command like this:
  

Code:

ln -s /mnt/DATA/{Documents,Downloads,Music,Pictures,Videos} /home/username

• Just make sure that the folder names in the command are spelled out exactly as you made them on the DATA partition.
  
  
• When you're done with symlinks, you will now see those folders when you open your Home in the file manager and when you save things to them the data will end up on the DATA partition and be useable by all operation systems.
  

My first question is...... can I carry out the "chown" command simply as me?  Or do I have to go through some process to go into the terminal as "root" (ie like running as an Administrator in Windows).

I was able to navigate to the shared DATA partition via the file manager.  It already has one folder in it called "lost+found" (presumably a default) .  I checked the properties>permissions and this suggested that Root was indeed the owner.  So I went into the terminal and did "chown"using the command code provided.  I hit enter..... and then the terminal asked for my password! Not quite understanding why this request came up after I had done the "chown" command, I simply typed in "exit" and the terminal closed.

However, it does appear that the command worked - because the permission for the DATA folder now shows my username and me as the owner. 

But I still have more work to do in the terminal, to set up the symlinks once I have created the new Docs/Pics/etc folders in the shared DATA partition.  So this query is mainly to ask:  when using commands in the terminal, is there any password/login process that determines whether I am in the terminal just as me, the user, or as root?  Or does it make no difference?

Finally, and just to be clear:  what exactly is the sequence for creating the symlinks?  Do I (i) delete the Docs/Pics/Downloads/Music folders in my Home area first, and then (ii) create folders with those names in the DATA folder, and then (iii) run the command(s) as explained already?  Or do I create the new folders first in DATA, and then delete the equivalent ones in my Home area, then run the command(s)?  Does it matter which way round I do the deletion/creation of folders?

I know to leave the Desktop folder in Home untouched.  What about the folders labelled "Public" and "Templates"?  Leave them alone, or have them too set up (and symlinked) in the DATA area?

I'm game to do it using the terminal.... but I did notice that if you right-click on a folder in either Home or in the DATA partition, then one of the drop-down options is "Create a link".  I guess this is the GUI alternative?  It seems to be the equivalent to a shortcut in Windows, but I can't see how you specify the path, or destination, for whatever link you are creating.  Seems simpler to stick with the command line formula suggested earlier!

Anyway, we're almost there.  Just need a bit of reassurance/clarification about using the terminal and whether/when it needs a password;  and then which folders to set up and which to leave alone...

[gold_finger]

My first question is...... can I carry out the "chown" command simply as me?  Or do I have to go through some process to go into the terminal as "root" (ie like running as an Administrator in Windows).

To change ownership of a root owned folder to yourself you need to do so with root/administrator privileges.  Some Linux distros have you set-up a separate root user account to do admin activities in.  Others like LL (and all Ubuntu-based distros) don't do that.  Instead they have the main user (the one you set-up during installation) set-up to conduct admin activities as needed, on a per command basis using "sudo" at the beginning of the command.  Then it asks for your password as confirmation that you really want to run the admin command.  (If you don't close the terminal, it will remember the password for 10-15 minutes so you don't have to enter it each time when running a series of admin commands.  When you close the terminal, the password is cleared and you'll need to enter it again if you decide to open terminal again and run more sudo commands.)  Here's a link that might help explain a bit better:  http://www.howtogeek.com/111479/htg-expl...n-sudo-su/

Like I said before, if you use "Ext4" file system on that partition and use the same username on all distros you install, you'll only need to take ownership of that partition once.  The Ext4 file system retains the ownership info along with the files.  When/If you upgrade or replace distros, as long as you continue to use the same username you'll have immediate access to that data partition without having to mess with the chown command again.

So I went into the terminal and did "chown"using the command code provided.  I hit enter..... and then the terminal asked for my password! Not quite understanding why this request came up after I had done the "chown" command, I simply typed in "exit" and the terminal closed.

However, it does appear that the command worked - because the permission for the DATA folder now shows my username and me as the owner.

Based on above I can't be sure exactly why it worked, but if it now shows you as owner we'll leave it at that.

when using commands in the terminal, is there any password/login process that determines whether I am in the terminal just as me, the user, or as root?  Or does it make no difference?

Every time you open the terminal it will be as you.  (Exception:  sometimes there may be a right-click choice shown to open a terminal as root, when in file manager for example.)  Also, the prompt you'll see right before the cursor will have a "#" at the end when you're running as a normal user.  You could use the "su" command to switch to running as root during entire terminal session, but it's safer to stick to using the "sudo" command on an as needed basis instead of running as root.  (If you were to run a terminal as root, you'd see a "$" at end of prompt instead of the "#" sign, which is another way to tell you're running as root.  Open a terminal and run "su", enter password, and you'll see the prompt change.  Then type "exit" to get out of root terminal.)

Finally, and just to be clear:  what exactly is the sequence for creating the symlinks?  Do I (i) delete the Docs/Pics/Downloads/Music folders in my Home area first, and then (ii) create folders with those names in the DATA folder, and then (iii) run the command(s) as explained already?

Once you've taken ownership, you can create folders in and copy files to the data partition any time you like.  Timing wise, the only thing you need to make sure of is that you delete any folders in Home that have the same name as a folder you plan to symlink in /mnt/DATA.  If you didn't do that then the symlink attempt would fail because it would be trying to create something with the same name as one that already exists.  If you've got no files stored in those Home folders, then you can just delete them right away.  If you do, and they are files you want to save, then make sure you copy them over to the data partition first, otherwise they'll be gone when you delete the folders.

Eg.  I've got a data partition on computer that I've used for a few years.  Periodically I change distros installed to the computer and/or install updated versions.  When I do that I immediately delete the standard Home folders (except Desktop) and create symlinks to the data partition where all my files are.  Nothing needs to be done on data partition because everything is already there and I always use the same username.  So in about 1-2 minutes my files are back to same setup I had before.

I know to leave the Desktop folder in Home untouched.  What about the folders labelled "Public" and "Templates"?  Leave them alone, or have them too set up (and symlinked) in the DATA area?

If those are folders you use, yes put them on the data partition too.  I personally don't use either of them, so I just delete them and don't have them anywhere.

In addition to standard folders like "Documents, Music, Pictures", etc., you can create folders of any name you wish on the data partition and symlink them to home also.  I have 4-5 others symlinked in addition to standard named folders.  You can set it up any way you want really.

I'm game to do it using the terminal.... but I did notice that if you right-click on a folder in either Home or in the DATA partition, then one of the drop-down options is "Create a link".  I guess this is the GUI alternative?  It seems to be the equivalent to a shortcut in Windows, but I can't see how you specify the path, or destination, for whatever link you are creating.  Seems simpler to stick with the command line formula suggested earlier!

Ok, this is embarrassing, but I'm sure you'll get a laugh out of this (along with everyone else). :-[  I've been using Linux for about 6 years now.  In that time I've tried a few times to figure out how to do symlinks with the GUI, but never succeeded.  I knew how to do it in the terminal, so I didn't bother spending time looking up how to do it -- but the point is I still can't do it now.  Someone else will need to explain that and I'm sure it will be something ridiculously easy and I'll feel like a complete moron for not figuring it out.

[br1anstorm]

Once again (and this is becoming a regular refrain...) thanks, gold_finger, for answering my puzzlement about using the terminal as user and/or as root.

In an earlier dalliance with PCLinuxOS, I do recall having to have separate user and root accounts, and having to figure out the difference between # and $. 

This particular explanation was as clear and comprehensible as I could have wished - no need to look onward to the howtogeek:

"Some Linux distros have you set-up a separate root user account to do admin activities in.  Others like LL (and all Ubuntu-based distros) don't do that.  Instead they have the main user (the one you set-up during installation) set-up to conduct admin activities as needed, on a per command basis using "sudo" at the beginning of the command.  Then it asks for your password as confirmation that you really want to run the admin command.  (If you don't close the terminal, it will remember the password for 10-15 minutes so you don't have to enter it each time when running a series of admin commands.  When you close the terminal, the password is cleared and you'll need to enter it again if you decide to open terminal again and run more sudo commands.)"

So....... back to the main story, which is about trying to set up a multiboot on a Win7 laptop.  My aim was to have both Linux Mint and Linux Lite installed, with a shared DATA partition, and both accessible via EasyBCD thus keeping the Win7 bootloader in place.

The first distro I installed was Linux Mint..... and I have successfully managed to do both the "chown" and the symlinks to create shared folders in the DATA partition linked to my 'home' folder.  Again, kudos to gold-finger, and no cause for embarrassment or laughter:  the command-line method worked like a charm.

Flushed with success, I then installed Linux Lite, and its Grub, on the next pre-prepared empty partition.  All went well.  I managed to add it into the EasyBCD menu as my third OS option along with Win7 or Mint.  BUT......

I then found that although EasyBCD listed both Linux OSs, selecting Linux Lite took me only to the Grub2 bootloader screen offering Linux Mint (or Win7).  No sign of Linux Lite...

I have now discovered that there is a limitation with EasyBCD (which its provider acknowledges).  EasyBCD cannot - yet - handle or boot into more than one OS which uses GRUB2 . It can multiboot different versions of Windows.  It can multiboot versions of Windows, and Linux distros which use Grub Legacy.  But it can only "see" one instance of Grub2.  Hence it is unable to boot into the Linux Lite I have installed, because I already have Mint, and its Grub2, in place. 

This is an issue with EasyBCD and nothing to do with Linux Lite. I only post up this information in case it is of use or interest to others.  I am surely not the only person who likes the idea of retaining Windows and its MBR and also having several Linux distros to choose from?

So for the moment I have paused.  I suppose I could just bin EasyBCD and do what most people do for a dual or multiboot:  install a Linux distro and allow its Grub2 to replace the Windows bootloader in the MBR, and then install as many Linux distros as I want, updating the initial Grub2 to enable booting into any of the others.  I know already that if I go down this route, I would have to start by installing LL (because its Grub2 has been tweaked and needs to remain the "lead" bootloader) and then add other distros and do the "update-grub".

This means losing the Windows bootloader (though I have taken the sensible advice to make a backup).  I suppose the other - possible? - way to do it, keeping Windows unscathed and still using EasyBCD, would be to somehow "insert" or add the Grub from the second Linux OS (Lite) into the boot menu of the first one (Mint).  I don't have the expertise to know how to do this, and fear it may be more complicated than I would want.

The learning curve continues!  If anyone feels inclined to comment, I'd be interested......

[gold_finger]

EDIT ADDED LATER:  Just saw that you have similar post for help on Mint forum.  You received a reply with possible solution to booting both Mint and LL from austin.texas that sounds like it may work and should be easier than what I have posted below.  Would recommend you try his solution first.  If doesn't work, then try mine below.

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Learn something new every day.  I had no idea EasyBCD had that problem.

Based on your description of problem, I'm going to make a purely speculative guess at a possible solution.  Here's my thought process.

From the sounds of it, if you choose to boot Linux, EasyBCD passes booting responsibility to grub which then boots the distro.  If more than one distro uses grub2, it only recognizes and lists one of them for booting.  If the distro's grub that takes over has been updated to include boot choices for other installed distros, they will then show on the grub menu and can boot from there.  (That is my speculation.  I don't know that to be true.)

I'm guessing that when you choose Mint from EasyBCD menu, it either boots straight into Mint, or shows grub menu with only Mint choices for booting and no choices to boot LL.  I say that because I'm guessing you never went into Mint and updated grub to include LL because you knew ahead of time that LL would not boot properly that way.

So, here's my theory:  You're going to want to have LL's grub be the one referred to by EasyBCD and you should also be able to boot Mint from LL's grub menu.

Boot into Mint and delete grub packages so it's no longer installed there.  (Use "Quick Search" box in Synaptic Package Manager to search for "grub" and "Mark for complete removal" any grub packages that show as being installed.)  Then reboot into Windows and remove the Mint entry from EasyBCD.  Then tell EasyBCD to look for distros to boot again and it should only find the grub for LL.  Add that to EasyBCD, then reboot and see if you can boot into LL.

Also, since you installed LL after Mint, I'm guessing that LL's grub will already have a boot choice listed for Mint (and Windows too for that matter).  Boot into LL first to see if it works.  Then reboot and try to boot into Mint.  With any luck, I'm guessing this will all work.

If you can boot into LL but there is no choice showing to boot Mint, just open a terminal in LL and enter this command to add it to the grub boot menu:

Code:

sudo update-grub

Next reboot should now have Mint listed and I'm guessing that it will work.