Problems with trial load from Live CD - Cannot Now Boot Vista

If you are getting the grub menu where you get to choose between Vista and Ubuntu there
will be 2 maybe 3 menuentrys to boot Vista. You are choosing the restore partition and not
the partition with Operating System installed. To see your menu entries in a terminal in Ubuntu:
grep menuentry /boot/grub/grub.cfg

The install icon is if you are in Live Cd and install from there. You have already installed, no problem there.

You are already installed most likely sda5 is Ubuntu install. Can find out by in Ubuntu terminal:
sudo fdisk -l (lowercase L)

OK.

Grub menu:

menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-28-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-28-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
menuentry 'Ubuntu, with Linux 2.6.35-22-generic (recovery mode)' --class ubuntu --class gnu-linux --class gnu --class os {
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+)" {
menuentry "Memory test (memtest86+, serial console 115200)" {
menuentry "Windows Recovery Environment (loader) (on /dev/sda1)" {
menuentry "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda3)" {

Other one:

Disk /dev/sda: 250.1 GB, 250059350016 bytes
255 heads, 63 sectors/track, 30401 cylinders
Units = cylinders of 16065 * 512 = 8225280 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disk identifier: 0x80d2f3ee

   Device Boot Start End Blocks Id System
/dev/sda1 * 1 18709 150273294 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda2 28965 29096 1050624 c W95 FAT32 (LBA)
/dev/sda3 29096 30402 10486784 7 HPFS/NTFS
/dev/sda4 18709 28965 82385921 5 Extended
/dev/sda5 18709 28542 78985216 83 Linux
/dev/sda6 28542 28965 3399680 82 Linux swap / Solaris

Partition table entries are not in disk order

This shows sda1 as your install
sda3 as a recovery partition in fdisk
sda2 is a manufacturers partition.
sda5 is linux.

the menuentry has them just the opposite:

If sda1 does not boot you into your Windows install let me know
there is easy ways to fix this.

Sorry, I'm new to this but I do pick it up quickly.
How do I boot sda1 into Windows install?

It seems we don't use same vocabulary. For what I understand, you have still installed Ubuntu.
Sda3 is probably your Vista partition, and when you get boot menu, you must choose:
   "Windows Vista (loader) (on /dev/sda3)"
with arrow keys.
You said you want a single OS. Why didn't you install with "whole disk" option ?

delance
Thanks for the reply.
sda3 is the full factory reset for Vista - I aborted.
sda3 gives me my Vista back. Looks like vista needed to accept the new formatting as it was down outside Vista. But it is all there.

I chose to install Ubuntu as a secondary OS so I could try it out; i never thought i could lose my Vista stuff. Good job it appears to be there and once I get a bit more familiar and capture anything I need, i will "go all the way" with Ubuntu.

When I do want to do the full switch to Ubuntu what are the steps considering i do not have the "Intall Ubuntu" icon on my Ubuntu desktop like the documentation said i would.

delance
Thanks for the reply.
sda3 is the full factory reset for Vista - I aborted.
sda3 gives me my Vista back. Looks like vista needed to accept the new formatting as it was down outside Vista. But it is all there.

I chose to install Ubuntu as a secondary OS so I could try it out; i never thought i could lose my Vista stuff. Good job it appears to be there and once I get a bit more familiar and capture anything I need, i will "go all the way" with Ubuntu.

When I do want to do the full switch to Ubuntu what are the steps considering i do not have the "Intall Ubuntu" icon on my Ubuntu desktop like the documentation said i would.

"i do not have the "Intall Ubuntu" icon on my Ubuntu desktop like the documentation said i would" : you only have when you boot from CD. It's normal behavior.
"When I do want to do the full switch to Ubuntu what are the steps" : booting on Ubuntu CD with "Try" option, removing Windows partition and extending Ubuntu one to whole disk, then probably (to check) reinstalling boot loader from Ubuntu CD.
os-prober (software which is supposed to identify foreign OSes) is not always efficient in recognizing Windows partition. He can confuse main and recovery Windows partition. Could you try sda1 at boot?

sda1 booted into Vista but it went through a recovery process to accept the new volume.

How do I remove Vista to a full Ubuntu install, or at least adjust the partition to give much more to Ubuntu and minimum to vista?

Install a program called GPARTED (from ubuntu software centre in the applications menu) that allows you to resize partitions from Ubuntu. The resize operation might take very long (hours) and you should do it with the AC power connected.
Be careful, as you can delete partitions and lose all your data or make any OS unbootable.

You have two big options:
1-using whole disk, deleting recovery partition
If you have any data to recover, simple solution is to reinstall Ubuntu from CD, specifying at install "whole disk".
As you have Windows partitions as primary ones, and Ubuntu ones in extended partition, other solutions will be more complex to run (and explain)
2-keeping recovery partition
As recovery partition is at middle of disk, it's a little complicated. One solution is to reformat sda1, which contains normal Vista, into ext4fs to make a data partition. After you will have to mount this partition in Ubuntu. You could use it as an "external" data disk.
3-backing up recovery partition
 /dev/sda3 10486784/2048=5GB
You could also copy this partition on an external disk, and after reformat whole disk. To copy partition, you can either use Gparted or else Clonezilla, which is dedicated to this task. Don't use a DVD, as life expectancy of DVD is lower than you think (few years).

The big option is what you want to do of recovery partition.

Thank you Federico and Delance.

I think Federico's suggestion seems much more within my understanding, so seems favourite.

As to what I want to do, then I want a stable OS on my laptop. If Vista is tucked away in a corner, then so be it.

Before I do anything more, I am backing up any files I want to keep onto CD. I will be working with a 'clean' laptop, no info to lose.

If I boot from the Live CD again, do I get the option to fully install Ubuntu without the partition?

To use all the disk to ubuntu do this:
Boot with the Live CD as you did and select the "Try Ubuntu without installing" option.
Once you boot in the live CD desktop run Gpated (in System -> Administration menu) and delete all partitions and extended partitions. Select Apply in gparted. All the disk must be colored grey in gparted's window and labeled as unused or free space.

Then exit gparted and install. It will use all the disk and set up all partitions ubuntu needs.

I ran the Live CD and one option in the partition bit ws to use whole disk, so I did, and now I'm completely Microsoft free on this laptop - woo hoo!!