boxes adding up to 100% of the browser - css

Question

I want to have 2 boxes right next to each other, one with a fixed width, and another with a width that will change based on the size of the browser. The box has overflow:auto, and I'm trying to get the first box to act as a side bar that will follow you down the page. But of course I can't seem to achieve this, and have come here hoping someone could give me some examples, or point me in the right direction.
Thanks!

Answer 1

To achieve the layout you asked try something along these lines:
HTML:
<div>
<div id="col1">Left Navigation Menu</div>
<div id="col2">Right Content</div>
</div>
CSS:
#col1
{
position:fixed;
width:400px;
}
#col2
{
position:absolute;
left:400px;
}

Answer 2

Will I was trying to think of a good way to do this in CSS, I was channeling my google-fu and found...
http://plugins.jquery.com/project/jStickyScroll
"This plug-in allows you to keep a div element at the top of the browser window when scrolling down a page. The most common use is to keep a sidebar navigation menu from disappearing when scrolling to the bottom of a web page."
You could maybe try...
#element{
position:fixed;
}
Although this doesn't work without hacks in IE6, see
http://www.howtocreate.co.uk/fixedPosition.html

Answer 3

Give this a go (I hope this is what you are after?):
See a live demo here: http://jsfiddle.net/VcecU/
HTML
<div class="main_container">
<div class="content_a">1</div>
<div class="content_lotsoftext">Start. Lots of text goes here! Finish. </div>
</div>
CSS
.main_container{
background-color:#ccc;
overflow:auto;
zoom:1;
}
.content_a{
width:60px;
float:left;
background-color:#3FF;
}
.content_lotsoftext{
float:left;
background-color:#FCF;
margin:-20px 0 0 60px; /* -- Need conditional for IE6 and 7 to remove the margin to get it to work in those browsers --*/
/*-- The following classes help it to sit better in IE6 and 7 --*/
clear:left;
display:inline;
}
Please note, you will need a IE6&7 conditional to remove the margin, clear and display classes from .content_lotsoftext