im trying to install kali linux which is bascially the new backtrack, i believe it is really just debian with pentesting utilities.

i get through the install with no issue(three times so far) however when i boot for the first time i am in console mode and i can't load gui with startx.

startx: command not found
apt-get update: "you must run dpkg --configure -a to solve this problem"
dpkg --configure -a: 'start-stop daemon not found' PATH or executable can not be found
note: usually root's PATH includes /usr/sbin, /sbin(not exact syntax but thats basically what it says)

anyone know why i would get these types of errors? i have an nvidia gtx 660 gpu, which maybe is too new for the distro, but i think this card is over a year old.

aside from the gui issue, i've installed many distros of linux and never had an issue like this with updating or package manager.

i've checked kali's wiki and forums and have not seen anyone with a similar issue

It might work, but then it might not:
sudo apt-get install gnome-shell

Post back if you are still having trouble.

says i have the lastest version installed, when i boot up i have a couple "WARN" and one was gnome i think it said daemon not found...it scrolled really fast. i am currently installing again because i tried to update again and i got a not enough disk space error. its Vbox and i only gave it 8gb as a precursor to put it on a usb drive.

*edit* Now the installation just failed...maybe its a bad iso.

so this is a VM install and not a real install

likely then it is a vbox issue
and not a kali issue

unless you installed it AS a text only install
you should see the nice dragon theme startup screen

just dd the live image to a usb
as per the install instructions