Bootimg Linux

I recently got given a laptop wirh linux on it. It was fine for a while then yesterday when I turned it on I got the following on my screen:

Booting 'Linux (on /dev/sdal)'
root (h0,0)
Filesystem type is ext2fs, partition type 0x83
kernel /boot/vmlinux root=/dev/sdal ro vga=normal
[Linux-bzImage, setup=0x2a00, size=0x18a82c]

Help what do I do

Do you have any idea what happened?
Did you shut it down with the power button instead of shutting it down gracefully perchance?
Were there updates installed?
Did you try to install or configure something yourself?
Does the laptop hold items of value you must retrieve or not?
Would it be possible for the one who gave you the laptop to help you?
Else do you know what Linux distribution the laptop runs?
And does the laptop have a CD or DVD drive?
Else do you have an USB stick and a windows computer?