Ubuntu must've mounted it to the desktop so you could open and see the files,
right? Then go to your wife's account and find her Document folder, etc. You can
copy them off to USB or burn them to CD/DVD or email them to yourself, if there
is only a few.
If you prefer a Windows fix, it may open as a slave drive on another computer,
be sure to un-mount it first from Linux.

Could you please provide me with the command to find out the name of the drive
that holds the Windows directories and files.

Maybe just checking on the drive's health will help find it, if it's not
auto-mounted when plugged in? I use Puppy for this usually...
I used my friend's Boot CD to boot Windows and Linux hard drives that wouldn't
boot, then she might be able to copy her files off herself. PLoP or other tools
on my friend's might help.

Use any file manager. Open it and look at the drives and partitions
displayed in the tree structure on the left hand side. I use Dolphin, but
it should work just the same in any other - Nautilus, Thunar etc.

Unless you have an unusually large number of partitions/drives/Windows
installations it shouldn't be hard to find the right partition because it
will have a "Windows" folder in it. Open the "Documents and Settings"
folder in the same partition (not inside the Windows folder). The login
names of all users are found in the "Documents and Settings" folder and all
your wife's files should be in hers, unless she made a strenuous effort to
hide them elsewhere. In that case she will have to tell you where she hid
them! If you have more than one Windows installation you'll have to inspect
the files and see which one is the one you need to recover the documents
from.

Shouldn't be too difficult as Linux can see, read and copy any unencrypted
file Windows can create.

Go to Dash, type 'disk, choose disk utility. Select eavh partition then click on
tab 'Mount' simples

Couple of things to tell us that will help a lot. 1) The version of
Ubuntu you are using ( i.e. does it have the side bar of icons ) and
2) The version of Windows that you are trying to access ( i.e. WinXP
or Vista / Win7 ).

Basically you will mount the Windows drive and then you can access all
the folders on it. WinXP holds user data in Documents and Settings
under a folder with the login name, Vista / Win7 holds user data in
Users under a folder with the login name.

Note you will not need any user password to access the files.

11.04
Windows 7..............

In Ubuntu 11.04, click on 'Places' on the top menu bar and you should
get a drop down list that has the Windows drive partitions listed.
Click on these to mount and the contents will be visible.

Find the partition that contains the folders 'Programs', 'Windows',
'Users' and double click on 'Users' to open it. In there you'll see
several folders, one of which will be the login name of the Windows 7
user ( or users if more than one login ). Again, double click on the
user you want to extract the data from and it will all be there ready
to copy onto an external drive pending whatever you are planning on
doing to fix Windows. Presumably you've tried repairing and now are
looking at a factory restore ?

I understand Windows NTFS systems keep a duplicate boot sector, so the boot
problem may be correctable. Following instructions are for Windows XP; if your
OS is another version, Google "boot sector repair".

Instructions 1. * Start your computer, holding down the "F8" key during the
boot process. This will open a startup menu. Select the "Recovery Console"
option in the startup menu. This opens the Recovery Console.
* 2
Type the administrator password at the prompt, and then
press "Enter." Your computer will display a Recovery Console command
line with a command prompt.
*
* 3
Type "fixboot" (without the quotation marks) at the command
prompt, and then press the "Enter" key. The Recovery Console will repair the
boot sector, and notify you when the repair is complete. Restart the computer
when the repair finishes.