Currently my ubuntu setup is going directly to console. I have LXDE installed, and have to enter "startlxde" every time I restart the computer.
Is there a way to automatically run this command at startup?
It sounds like you don't have a display manager installed. This is what would normally start up X (the graphical server) and get you into a position where you can log in. The confiusing thing is how you ended up without gdm
or lightdm
in the first place.
If you're using 11.10, I suggest you run
sudo apt-get install lightdm
That should install everything it needs in terms of start up scripts and should display something fancy for you on boot.
If you're on something before 11.10, swap out lightdm
for gdm
.
If you did this on purpose and you don't want a display manager and only want a single-user system without login protection, look into nodm
which is a display manager that just spits you out on a desktop as a user. It's a bit more manual to set up though.
nodm
might be perfect for you, but start out with an established one like lightdm
or gdm
to begin with.