Vista gone after Partition of Ubuntu on laptop

[cousin]

I installed Ubunthu on my wifes HP laptop and it partitioned it without warning

when it restarted it had errors...something like "cannot allocate resource region 7 of bridge"

There is no option to boot into the existing Vista

I would just like to get the info back which was on the hard drive eg family pics, spreadsheets etc

can someone please help or is the damage already done

thank Steve

[NightwishFan]

When you installed, it is unlikely it partitioned without warning. In fact it warns you about which partitions are going to be edited by the installed before the final step. A way to check is to go under: Places - Computer in the applications menu and see if there is another partition to mount. If there is a partition with your windows files, then I assume Vista can be resumed by editing grub. This seems unlikely though.

[cousin]

thanks, but being a newbie (obviously since I didn't probably read anything) I need a little more help then that, I have got the file browser open and under computer all I can see is filesystem and cd-rw/dvd drive

does this mean windows is gone

[NightwishFan]

I regret to inform you that this may be the case. Although removing a Windows. in my opinion, is never a bad thing. Losing personal data is. Always remember to back up anything you cannot replace. For photos and documents, a dvd works fine. Remember to read a little before you attempt an os install. Here is a good link.

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/installing

[cousin]

thanks NightWishFan

I am now going to format and try again

good lesson to learn

[stefanor]

There is no option to boot into the existing Vista

Just after you've turned it on, when it says "Loading GRUB" (or something to that effect), hit escape. At the bottom of the list should be Vista.

[NightwishFan]

Perhaps check to see if the space is taken on your harddrive. If you have a 200gb harddrive and more than 40gb is missing then Vista is likely still installed.