Ubuntu distribution upgrade from 7.04 to 7.10 on a dell inspiron1501 laptop completed, but X windows failed to start. The solution was to:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get install linux-restricted-modules-generic restricted-manager sudo apt-get install xorg-driver-fglrx sudo depmod -a
Found here: http://wiki.cchtml.com/index.php/Ubuntu_Gutsy_Installation_Guide