If I am using a Ubuntu distro, operating "live" on a USB stick, to boot into a PC containing one or more /home directories, how do I access them? Booting with a USB stick, you are in a guest session; is it possible to enter a "root" mode in a Ubuntu live session?

I am assuming that I would be permitted access to any non-encrypted directories (whether on NTFS partitions or Linux partitions) if I was root.

At the moment, while booted live in a guest session, I get a message saying I don't have access to any home directories written on the HDD. I presume that is because, as a guest, I am not the owner of that home directory, and therefore am not permitted access.

From a live cd you can use to become root and enter any directory on the hard drive (once the partition is mounted, of course). If you have persistence enabled, you can set up multiple users corresponding to the users on your hard drive on your usb stick

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Ah! Thanks. I shall make a note of that.