ubuntu newbie

[abdu]

i just installed ubuntu 8.10 as a program in my windows xp OS and i love itbut i am having several problems. i get notification that i have 61 updates available but i am not able to install them. a screen comes up and then there is a bar and then nothing happens. 2nd the synaptic packet manager doesnt work. 3rd icant install anything from the add/remove applications. i dont have any sound comic out of my Toshiba portege m400 laptop. i have tried to look for a solution using google but couldnt get any help. please help me with the steps to solve these problems. thanks.

[Partyboi2]

Welcome to ubuntu! Can you open a terminal (Applications>Accessories>Terminal) and post the output to

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade

[abdu]

this is what i get when i entered the code

sudo: must be setuid root

[Partyboi2]

Can you also post the output of

ls -l usr/bin/sudo
to see if it has the correct permissions.