I am almost a complete n00b to linux, but I can follow explicit directions and ask questions.

I recently updated my software (on Fedora 13) and after the updates had finished installing, it said that the computer required a restart. I noticed that I could no longer type anything into the search bar on Firefox without an error message appearing. So I thought it best to restart the computer then. When restarting, the loading screens took much longer than usual. The guitar pick shape that fills with white was stalling around the top. (I know, I love my complete comprehension of the problem too.) I pressed escape, and was given this message on a black screen.

Welcome to Fedora
Press 'I' to enter interactive startup.
starting udev:udevd-work[517]: '/sbin/modprobe-b pci: v000014E4d0000170Csv00001028sd000001F1bc02sc00i00' unexpected exit with status 0x0009

[OK]
[OK]

setting hostname (my computers name):


This is as far as I can get. I press Esc again, and I see the completed fedora logo, but nothing else happens. I press Esc again, and I come back to the previous screen, and this time there are two of the above messages.

What can I do? My computer is fairly old (four years), so I understand if the hard drive is deteriorating. I would like to have use of my computer back, but at the very least I would like to recover some files that I have not backed up. Are there any solutions, even if they are risky.

Thanks so much.

Boot with a recovery disc. You could at least recover your data.

you might also try booting into one of the older kernels from the grub boot menu.

Why install the definitely unstable ' Fedora 13 Alpha 0 ' ? ?
This version is not meant to be used, is for testing only.

QUOTE : ""The Purpose of the Alpha Release :
This release is an installable, testable version of the code and
features being developed for Fedora 13 (Goddard). The software
is going to have bugs, problems, and incomplete features. It is
not likely to eat your data or parts of your computer, but you
should be aware that it could.""
http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Fedora..._release_notes
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Fedora 13 release : 18 - May - 2010.
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A four year old computer is not old, I am writing this
on a very fast Pentium 4 ,,, 3 GHz, from 2004-2005.
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