Newbie --Admin access problem on KDE... HELP!!

[Faithful John <whureu@gmail.com>]

Hi all,
I'm a relative newbie who's been using the debian sarge.   I recently
have been trying to install kubuntu on my friends laptop.   She wants
to use linux as a primary system (she doesn't like micro$oft).
Anyway, when I was installing kubuntu off a disc, the network
connections did not set up properly.   Anyway, I have no connection to
the internet on that laptop and so I am having lots of trouble
updating the thing.   I don't even have admin access.   I know it's a
bug with KDE, and it's been reported, but I can't make any sense of the advice
people give.   Either it doesn't seem to work, or there isn't enough
information for a newbie to follow the instructions.   

When I try to do something to change the network settings, I can't
seem to log in as the administrator to do that.   I don't even know
where to start to get it going, especially since I can't get admin
access.
Selam