Vista / ubuntu Dual boot / partition

[grants]

I got a VAIO Laptop with a crashed HDD and the restore disks don't work so I'm gonna be starting from scratch and I'm wondering the best way to do this with a bare drive.

Do I partition my HDD with 1/2 ext3 and 1/2 NTFS? and what program can I use to do that?

Also how can I see my files in both of the partitions when i boot vista / ubuntu?

[mikewhatever]

I got a VAIO Laptop with a crashed HDD and the restore disks don't work so I'm gonna be starting from scratch and I'm wondering the best way to do this with a bare drive.

And what may 'crashed hdd' mean? If the restore disks didn't work because of the hdd, chances are you may need a new one, since yours is 'crashed' beyond recover.

Do I partition my HDD with 1/2 ext3 and 1/2 NTFS? and what program can I use to do that?

First, I suggest reviewing the following links:
http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/partitioning
http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/wubi
http://psychocats.net/ubuntu/dualboot

Also how can I see my files in both of the partitions when i boot vista / ubuntu?

Ubuntu can read/write to ntfs out of the box, and vista needs a help package such as fs-driver.

[cariboo907]

I would suggest going to the hard drives manufacturers web site and downloading the daignostic tools and check your hard drive, before doing anything else. If you can install from the restore disks, there is more then likely something wrong with the hard drive. Remeber all hard drives die, it is just a matter of how long it takes.

Jim

[grants]

already have a new H.D.D. I can at least get that far but I'm new to Ubuntu and wanna partition a small part of my drive so I can play around with it when i want to but still have windows and be able to access all my files. Is there an easy way to get a prompt before start up so I can select what OS i wanna boot?