7.1 update download wants 384 mb ram, I only have 256 max.

you could use the alternate installer and install a minmal installation of Xubuntu, that would get you up and running until you could put a little more ram in the system. Xubuntu is a little lighter than Ubuntu as XFCE is less resource intensive than Gnome. You could also try Fluxbuntu. Also, beware of CNR.. there is absolutely no pint in payng for free software, if you need help installing just visit the Ubuntu Community Forums.

The "alternate installer" CD does not complain about needing 384 MiB of RAM. I've installed it on a machine that has 192MiB. Of course it's a little pokey, but it should work.

You may have some success with upgrading with the alternate install CD.

What may also work well is if you have / and /home on separate disk paritions, you can install over / whilst keeping /home. This isn't as clean as an upgrade done in-place but it will get you 7.10 installed.

If you only have one huge partition, try swapping out the hard disk. You can always mount the original one to get your files back once the 7.10 install is complete.

RAM is dirt cheap right now. Have you considered investing in a stick?
If not, the alt install will work for you, since it's been 2 days I doubt you're terribly concerned with your /home.

I'm going to offer a slice of blasphemy:
You mentioned you want a training tool.
You said KDE sold you.
Slackware will give you all the training you could ever want (and then some) and one of the cleanest and fastest KDE on the block. If you don't wish to build your own packages, you could try swaret or slapt-get. I got Slack 10 running on an old P2 with 192MB of RAM and a 4GB HD. KDE works on that old dog, but fluxbox really feels snappy.

Welcome aboard!

Right now I'm not sure how to reply to my 3 responders, individually so will use this single message.

To Old-Soldier. per my vintage EMachines desktop (2001) I can not add more RAM. PC is maxed at 256, it's not a question of $. I will consider Xubuntu as an alternative to using 7.04 until its support expires and then get a fresh start with a newer, alittle more capable computer RAM and HDD. Re CNR it came installed on my Mirus PC as did KDE and Thunderbird. I haven't explored CNR to any extent yet since my wife is content with eMail, web surfing and using office writer, I'll expand on this further in an "Aside" to all three.

Guess I won't. Message box has finite capacity that won't accommodate any more than this far, I better go back and read up some more re this site.

I'll continue,
To Brian Kemp: My update Manager complained about needing 384 min when downloading and aborting 7.10 update of my 7.04. My huge partition equals my equally huge Hard Disk of 15GB. Swapping out is not a real option, I feel since I'll be investing in a higher capacity hard drive only to be limited by the aforementioned 256 RAM limitation. Newer computer seems the route to go, meanwhile use 7.04 until support expires.

To d_smith: Agreed, RAM is dirt cheap. However you possibly overlooked my comment, RAM maxed out at 256, A little blasphemy back. My original "Aside" tried to say I got into Linux early Mar 2008, ONLY because I wanted to get a cheap PC for my wife so I could regain control of my XP, The FreeSpire PC seemed an answer @ $200 after rebate. Setup was a snap, one call to 800 numbr answered a simple question that a User Guide would have, if included. Anyhow, my wife's a happy camper, for now. On this note, I'll end before I run out of space and return via my Aside to all three, hopefully, before I'm banned for the real blasphemy that follows.

Aside to All three. As an aspiring future Ubuntu guru wannabe, I'm not presently interested in "making do" with my obsolete computer with less than optimal capabilty. Question: Can I continue with 7.0.4 as installed. If not, I'll upgrade the entire computer, now, rather than later.
This or its replacement will continue to use Ubuntu as my training tool to learn, at my own pace and in a straight forward, methodical fashion, rather than ad hoc via FAQ's, etc. Don't get me wrong, I'll seek out such info for immediate fixes as part of my data base on a need to know basis. I consider that as hands on "training" but not 'education".
Now to blasphemy. CNR is something my wife likes "on principle". Until we actually start using it on the FreeSpire PC, I'll reserve additional comment. KDE vs Gnome,etc strikes me as personal preference choices with ensuing trade offs.
Finally re answers.launchpad: I think it's great. Judging by many a comment, I get the feeling, there's a competition going on, for some sort of "guru" prize. Plus, am I supposed to sit by the computer to await answers? I'm not of the "instant gratification" era.

Thanks for the help. I'll patiently await end of life status while searching for a newer computer to achieve future upgrades and improved performance. Thanks also to Old-Soldier and d_smith.

Thanks Brian Kemp, that solved my question.