Ubuntu 9.04 update to something newer

[sandman42 at libero.it]

Hi all,

in a VM I have an ubuntu 9.04 (not accessible from internet), and I've been 
trying to update it in order to install newer releases of the programs I use on 
it.
Particularly, I've been trying to update tp 10.04, that's LTS, and then to 
12.04, that's LTS too.

The problem is that neither I can do it, nor i can do a simple 9.04 -> 9.10.

I've tried everything, including downloading (<distribution> means the 
distribution name, i.e. karmic, jaunty etc) the package http://old-releases.
ubuntu.com/ubuntu/dists/<distribution>-proposed/main/dist-upgrader-
all/<distribution>.tar,gz, but when I do a

sudo ./<distribution>

I have the message

passage from jaunty to <distributio> is not supported.

What could I do, except reinstalling everything from scratch???

Thanks

Ciao