Another easy solution, one that wouldn't require you to buy an adapter, would be to download the Ubuntu Live CD
http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download
Run it off the CD or install it into unused partition space. Then boot up Ubuntu as your primary OS (it should install GNU Grub bootloader automatically which is a menu you can choose your OS from) and then you should be able to navigate to the old partition and it will automatically mount and you will be able to access your files and back them up to something (USB stick, external harddrive, etc.).