Dual Boot Issues

[Garrett100]

This is the single most difficult thing I have ever tried to do.
13 hours in I haven't accomplished anything. I have Kali Linux and Windows 8.1 installed on an HP Envy Laptop. Initially I tried using the GRUB OS Manager. That came with many problems, and I noticed many people recommending rEFInd instead. So I used that instead. It works using the USB version. It is detected by EasyUEFI. I think the problem is Windows resetting the boot order every time I boot. I'll change the order in EasyUEFI so that rEFInd is on top, reboot, and it doesn't pop up. It boots straight into Windows. Opening EasyUEFI shows that the boot order is exactly as it was before I changed it.
How do I fix this terrible mess?

 

[photonboy]

Do you have one drive or two?

If one drive only then the BOOTLOADER is the issue. It's not giving the option for Windows or Linux.

If TWO drives then you need to be booting to the drive that has the bootloader on it. I think mine was on the Linux drive because if I pointed to the Windows drive I just booted into Windows, but if I chose the Linux drive (in the BIOS) I got the bootloader.

I'm no expert on this though.

Linux Mint might work. I added a blank SSD to my desktop, then pointed the installation to that (after specifying W10 can modify yada yada..). After installation I get the (GRUB?) screen asking me to choose.

Problem is I keep getting a BLACK screen with flashing cursor after I reboot (not always right away). Apparently it may be a video driver issue. Lots of people seem to have this with different Linux distros.

 

[Garrett100]

Do you have one drive or two?

If one drive only then the BOOTLOADER is the issue. It's not giving the option for Windows or Linux.

If TWO drives then you need to be booting to the drive that has the bootloader on it. I think mine was on the Linux drive because if I pointed to the Windows drive I just booted into Windows, but if I chose the Linux drive (in the BIOS) I got the bootloader.

I'm no expert on this though.

Linux Mint might work. I added a blank SSD to my desktop, then pointed the installation to that (after specifying W10 can modify yada yada..). After installation I get the (GRUB?) screen asking me to choose.

Problem is I keep getting a BLACK screen with flashing cursor after I reboot (not always right away). Apparently it may be a video driver issue. Lots of people seem to have this with different Linux distros.

No, it's only a single disk. I have rEFInd on a USB, and when I plug that in it boots up fine, shows both Linux and Windows. I just don't want to plug the USB in every time I want to run Linux.