Can't run X on new nVidia card and computer

[Dave M G]

Mark, Peter,

Thank you for responding. I think I must have been unclear. I can not 
log into any kind of graphical interface. I can not see Gnome or anything.

I can only in at a command prompt. So I can't access Synaptic (as far as 
I know), nor can I follow the settings on the web page suggested, 
because they assume that one is working within the GUI.

I need to be able to install my drivers (or adjust my xorg.conf) from a 
command prompt.

The other problem is, that since I am completely unused to just the 
command prompt, I have no idea how to move data on or off the computer. 
I can't see any of my removable media drives in the /media/ directory or 
anywhere else.

I've been using Ubuntu on my old computer for months, and it installed 
just fine. So I was completely unprepared for this level of difficulty 
when installing on my newer computer. In fact, I had hoped it would be 
easier, since there wouldn't be as much "legacy" hardware. I checked 
each component for Linux support before purchasing as well.

So either I've made some error somewhere, or Ubuntu has. In either case, 
I need a little hand holding to get the graphical user interface up and 
running so I can get to where I am operational.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

--
Dave M G