one mistake I made not knowing it was encrypting the home drive for my original installation. I think this was responsible for the getting the ".ICEauthority file cannot be updated" problem.

what I just tried, changing the password, has just made the problem worse --I cannot get in to LM at all.

If I solve only the boot issue, the ICEauthority problem might remain because home drive will still be encrypted

so I am just going to reinstall

I have a dual boot with win7 which I will keep. I created the partitions before the first install.

My assumption is that if I just go through the installation process again AND CHOOSE INSTALL ALONGSIDE, Linux will wipe the current version and format the free partitions and reinstall itself.

I would be grateful if someone can confirm this, before I go ahead.

That is the main risk. Too many times I wished I'd just reinstall and be done, unhooking the /home partition (assuming it is in a different partition) and rehooking the lot afterwards...you trust that? I dont. Oh, I trust the installer, I just dont trust my knowledge on how to SUCCESSFULLY do that...
I usually have single boot (umm, I only have single boot, I never double boot - last one I had was with *** and OS/2) on one box....
Is a making a backup an option and just...reinstalling a way to go?
Just me talking...
Of course, my strategy landed me with a dozen PC's...I just migrate from one PC to the next LOL
Thor

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In a case like yours I wouldn't chance it.

I would manually create the partitions for your fresh install.
Click on the freespace and create your first partition for your ext4 / file system than create your swap partition 1 to 2 GB.

-::-This way you don't run the risk of accidentally deleting your Windows partitions and thus having to reinstall Windows again and than install Linux.-::-

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The only scenario where I ever trust an installer to do the right thing in terms of partitioning is when I try a distro inside a virtual machine.

In other words, if you have the technical know how of doing the partitioning yourself I can think of no good reason to trust it to the installer.
If you don't have that know how, you probably don't want to install anything to a machine that has valuable data on it anyways. At least not if you don't have a backup.

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The consensus opinion is to repartition myself and not let Linux handle it.

I did this once before, in order to install LM the first time.

In this case I assume I would do this:

1. wipe or delete the existing linux partitions

2. format them, if possible without affecting the windows partition

3. reinstall LM

Any confirmation or advice on this plan of action appreciated. (My date is already backed up.)

Sounds like a very good plan; that will work.

-::-You might want to write down your windows partitions so you don't highlight and select them during he format process.-::-

You could use G-parted Live to delete those existing partitions or you could use the partition manager that comes with Mint.

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I do not have the option of using any programs in linux since I cannot login, so if I need to login to use either g-parted or partition mgr, I could not do it.

I would have to look at the partitions from Win 7 and delete and format them from there.

Having g-parted Live on a DVD or usb memory stick you would not need to log in.
The partition manager comes with Linux Mint.

You could use Win 7 to delete those partitions but your on your own with that.
I haven't used Windows in about 5 years.

Good Luck:-

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I keep Parted Magic on a couple of USB drives and it is a lifesaver...

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I have looked a partition mgr. screenshot attached.



Looking at "Computer"in win 7 it shows 110 gb of 279 gb used. This must mean the 279 gb is used by win 7

the partitions are:

Partition one: system reserved 110 mb (this must be win 7) NTFS

Partition two: C: 279 gb (this must also be win 7) NTFS

Partition three: 180 gb (this must be used by linux) no file system label

Partition Four: 5.98 gb ---- I am unsure who this belongs to, since my RAM for win 7 is 6 gb, this could be win 7's RAM (no file system label)

would anyone have an opinion on the last one? How does win 7 label RAM?

The only partition that has a drive name is C, so I am guessing "system reserved"and "C" are the only windows partitions and I can reformat the other two (180 gb and 5.98 gb)

My second question would be if I should reformat or delete the non-Win 7 partitions or both and how that would be done. I see both "format" and "delete" as options if I right-click on a drive.

Attached Thumbnails

 

Maybe a member that is running Windows will chime in and be able to tell you.

Personally, I would delete the partitions and begin anew with a clean slate.

Partition one: system reserved 110 mb (this must be win 7) NTFS
(Windows likes to create a small system partition, that's what this is)

Partition two: C: 279 gb (this must also be win 7) NTFS
(Likely main Windows partition)

Partition three: 180 gb (this must be used by linux) no file system label
(Likely main Linux partition)

Partition Four: 5.98 gb ---- I am unsure who this belongs to, since my RAM for win 7 is 6 gb, this could be win 7's RAM
(Likely a Linux swap partition)

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The 5.98GB partition might be swap. There is no way to tell from windows as it doesn't recognize any Linux filesystem type. Formatting the partitions in windows for a Linux install would be useless as windows can't format with a Linux filesystem. Boot the Mint installation DVD/flash drive and either run: sudo fdisk -l or open GParted and post an image which will give you more accurate information.

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when I boot LM from the DVD I see in the left pane, one 300 GB volume (that is windows), then a 194 GB volume. That must be Linux.

Screenshot attached.

I ran
sudo fdisk -l
and
gparted

There seems to be some problems with sda3 and sda6.

There was a statement that sda3 extends beyond physical boundary.

Screenshots both are attached.

I think even if sda6 cannot be identifed then I would be safe in installing LM just in the 180 GB partition. There is enough room.

Attached Thumbnails

       

Your last image shows sda5 as a Linux filesystem which is where your earlier Mint was. It also shows sda6 as a swap. Not sure why GParted showed it as unknown.

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