A lot has been clarified, I believe.

Is there a correct way

Several

to install distros

Several to install only one distribution, too.

can I

What does “can I” mean? Depends on your expectations, but sure. You can. Nobody will sue you.

install them the way I like?

Depends on what you like and what you call “install”.

In summary. Try to get as many (different) experience-reports and read as many docs as you can... before or while you install. That does not really matter, as you will learn a lot in a more or less short time. I have made an awful lot of mistakes and live a lot better that way. Guess how I see the future.

One thing that I don't see mentioned. If you have to ask if you need special partitioning. Specifically stuff like a separate /boot, /var, /usr, whatever then you probably don't need it. For most people at home you can do just fine with all of it in a single root partition + a swap maybe. Even then you can use a swap file. Generally for a new user just let it do what it does. As you learn more you may redo things a bit more specifically. There is no right or best partition scheme for anything.

I personally keep a data partition and symlink my stuff into the given installations /home/"$USER" as needed. This keeps the "$USER"s .dotfiles separate and prevents the occasional conflict between distros.

Might I also suggest an LVM install. Easier to mess about with in the future.

Thats right. Geek talk em to death.


For hard drive check in Linux . I know Linux Lite uses XFCE instead of KDE or Gnome.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg3p_XYUx3A

for Mem Test. Look in Linux Lite Grub screen for that option to run it before boot. Should be a grub line that mentions it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOMNZ0mW-YE

Also. All Log messages are in the folder named /var.

Rather, most. Some apps put their logs elsewhere.
And better described as under /var since they are usually located in or under /var/log.

In other words: Just try it!

I'm sure you and I always do it

I wrote something for people in your situation if you are interested:
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...newbies-38064/

In hindsight it's quite long and perhaps a bit daunting for a newbie. But, the main point is that spending time learning partitioning is well worth it and eventually extremely important.

It's also not difficult, you just need to understand some basic concepts, then try it out. And hopefully in the process form some thoughs on how you can go about it personally, for now, and in the future.

^ what jr_bob_dobbs commented.