Linuxcnc 2.4.5 with Ubuntu 10.04 , Terminated with Error!

Hello , Newb here. Just bought 2 , very nice Bridgeport and Jet mill retrofits , with Microkentics Steppers and PICO Universal Stepper cards , from the estate of a friend. Machines are very nicely built.
They sat idle since 2013, the Cmos batteries were dead . Ive been working on the .ini file of the Jet mill , to correct the homing sequence.
Everything was great , fixed the Z Axis homing . Powered down the control to plug the A axis in . Now on power up , it will not load Linuxcnc 2.4.5.
Is there a way to decode the error message , to see what i need to change, to return functionality ?
   The computers are bare bones machines, no network capabilities , just USB.  
             Where can I look , or were do I Start ? 

Great ! i have to figure out how to load the error files to a USB Stick .
The builder was a bit of a Conspiracy theorist... he had everything locked down.

Thank You Andy, Im sure it was my fault, just to old and Technologically inferior to comprehend.