Load 'auto-save' error on startup

[Conrad Taylor]

I'm getting the following error message when the init.el is loaded:

Debugger entered--Lisp error: (file-error "Cannot open load file "auto-
save")

I'm using emacs 23.1.1 on Ubuntu 9.10.  Lastly, my issues began when
there was no sample.emacs or sample.init.el within the distribution
which
adds another level of confusion.  Thus, if anyone has any ideas as to
how
to fix this, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,

-Conrad